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WHAT IS THELEMA
What is
Thelema?
T h e F i rs t i n a Ser ies o f T h r ee
A r t i c les o n T h e le m i c T h e o r y &
P rac t i ce
by
A l e ister i o n
(Paidi tou Prophete, XIo O.O.O.)
[All Quotes from Holy Books in Red Ink.]
WHAT IS THELEMA
be no difference made among you between any one oneself with what others think. One might
thing & any other thing; for thereby there cometh approach Thelema in one or more of the following
hurt. (Liber Legis, 1:22) The first and greatest ways: (a) as a religion, (b) as a philosophy, or (c)
challenge for Thelema to overcome is to rise above as an occult phenomenon and but one of many at
the forces of destructive sectarianism that have
that. But even that fails to settle the matter, for
plagued all archaic religious institutions and
there is a further question of how to approach its
movements.
founding document, The Book of the Law. It could
be taken literally, as the inspired word of God unto
humanity in that tired old religious tradition or
That said, let us hesitate no longer to dive
it could be taken as a subtle message rich with a
headlong into the pestilential abyss of Thelemic multiverse of meaning. Or it could be viewed as
theory.
just another occult grimoire. Finally, there is the
problem of the Tunis Comment.
Article I of III:
Thelema in Theory
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be His rite.
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the utterance of an Adept entirely beyond the
criticism of even the Visible Head of the
Organization. As he claimed to be the sole
authority in all matters Thelemic, this is without a
doubt beyond any and all possible objection.
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truth yet diverges therefrom into a false conclusion women share this same eternal star-like condition
that has its root in the ill will of an overblown ego. of Supernal mind loftier than any bodily limitation.
That is, the 93 Current (i.e. Aiwass) truly was
some part of Crowley's subconscious self, a
Not all stars are the same, but each is unique in a
severely repressed part which does, in fact,
variety
of ways. All of us stem from the same
make him possessed of all sorts of praeternatural
knowledge and power, on some level unknown to source of consciousness, however, so that on some
transcendent level we are all essentially the same
his temporal self. Where he goes wrong is in
mind, only splintered into infinite concentrated
assuming that this Current is not equally in all
conscious beings, but in himself alone. It would points of awareness for the sake of interactive
be fair to say that it was specially concentrated in experience with itself on the temporal plane. This
him, but such is the case with anyone who attains is the reasoning behind the following verses from
unto Arhatship through transcending the Abyss of Liber Legis (3: 63, 68):
the mind and, to be true to The Book of the Law,
one would have to concede that this Current was no
The fool readeth this Book of the Law, and its
less specially concentrated in the women who
transmitted the power of the Scarlet Woman. All comment; & he understandeth it not....Yet to all it
Thelemic Saints are equal in the Cup of Babalon; shall seem beautiful. Its enemies who say not so,
are mere liars.
all Arhats are equally true. Or, as Liber Legis
puts it:
It is the same with such terms as kings and
slaves,
that we find used repeatedly throughout
All words are sacred and all prophets true; save
The Book of the Law: i.e., all of us are more or
only that they understand a little; solve the first
half of the equation, leave the second unattacked. less both it is the degree to which we are one or
the other, in our ordinary awareness, that really
But thou hast all in the clear light, and some,
matters, and that is determined by the degree of
though not all, in the dark.
our initiated understanding, brought about and
increased over time through mystical experiences
and true spiritual epiphanies spurred on by the
And of course:
onset of the three main grades of transcendental
initiation: (1) the Baptism of Initiation itself; (2)
Every man and every woman is a star.
the Gnosis of the Holy Supernal Will; and (3) the
crossing of awareness beyond the Abyss of the
mind into Supernal Realization known in Eastern
Of course, not all are equal in strength, talent, or religion as Samadhi outside the limits of time and
intellect (among many other things), at least not at space yet at once omnipresent therein.
any particular point in time, but essentially,
beneath the layers of genetic and experiential
effects that have adhered to and directed the
Even the prophet is addressed as a slave in Liber
essential pure consciousness, modified eventually Legis c.f. L, 1:26. The slavish will is that with
by whatever precondition of tradition and
which we ordinarily associate ourselves with, or
education (or ignorant superstition, as the case may that with which we identify gradually over time
be) that is directly imposed upon him or her by
from the first moments of perception onward. It is
family and government and culture, all men and the unitiated ego: a mass of complexes formed by
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avatar, Jesus of Nazareth, with each practitioner be escaped from and rectified.
then carrying out the sacrifice ritually with the
Mass of bread and wine signifying the body and
blood respectively but also personally, as it were, Thelema revisits this fundamental religious
problem and arrives at a different conclusion: i.e.,
via asceticism.
the divine consciousness, undivided and without
condition, lacking therefore any potential for real
Ceremonial sacrifice in any form, symbolic or
experience, submits itself willingly to divided
actual, is based on a doctrine the underpinnings of existence by consolidating itself in a point in time
which are simply erroneous; and aside from this, it and space, subject to cause and effect with all
is a doctrine that is every way contrary to sound
attendant possibilities of joy and ecstasy but also,
Thelemic theory, which holds that spiritual
of necessity, misery and agony. In other words,
advancement requires no atonement with an
each one of us is essentially a God, or rather an
immaterial divine ideal and therefore no
aspect of universal consciousness, that submitted
accompanying routine of asceticism and sacrifice itself to being limited to a temporary device of
intended to purge one of the bestial force that
divided perception (a body and brain in our case),
supposedly anchors one to the imperfection of fully subject to all varieties of catastrophe, in order
dualistic existence (the only kind worth having).
to achieve a more edifying experience of itself in
Buddhism, even though it incorporates no outward all its limitless potential.
routine of sacrifice, also adheres to this doctrine in
its obsession with transcendence through escapism.
This simple doctrinal assumption carries with it
tremendous religious implications! So let us
The main issue, the central religious problem if consider these one-by-one.
you will, has always been attaining union with the
divine. For all previous religions, this has always
First, by sublimating God into the universal,
meant some form of transformation which totally
impersonal
and therefore indifferent base of the
separates one from the attachment to dualistic
consciousness of all living things, one derives
imperfection, either through asceticism and
from this a sort of spiritual atheism with a focus on
fortuitous Arhatship (as in Eastern religion) or
through death (as in most other religions). In all achieving self-Gnosis and realizing one's otherwise
cases, this meant an escape from our enslavement hidden potential somewhat akin to Buddhism,
but without the escapist doctrine and pessimism.
to the divisiveness by which we are able to
Existence is worth experiencing! Suffering, no
perceive the difference, let us say, between
pleasure and pain without which differentiation matter how severe, is worth the trouble, because in
order to experience a caress one needs to also be
pleasure would of course be unappreciable.
subject to the effects of a claw. The happiness
obtained in all of our other experiences, no matter
Primitive cults aimed to appease a deity that was how few and far between, far outweighs the
imagined as being totally detached from material or unhappiness caused by our ordeals, which pass
temporal limitations, in order to win material and and bother us no more yet which serve to
spiritual grace; but the divisive reality by which strengthen us, while the very best of the joyful
we can distinguish anything of reality at all is
memories are no doubt an everlasting joy beyond
always regarded as a state of sinfulness and error to measure.
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shall divine. Once again, we are given to
understand that no one not even the prophet is
in a position of authority above the praeterhuman
author of this extraordinary document.
Crowley, writing on this in The Equinox of the
Gods, discusses the matter in some detail:
...I might also elucidate the problem of the
apparent changes of speaker, and the occasional
lapses from straightforward scribecraft in the
MS.
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those of a kiss.
is, on the contrary, the promise of full selfdiscovery and fulfillment here and now, and the
millionfold joy not in some fantastical land of milk
Finally, in chapter 2, we find the following (in and honey but in the infinite possibilities of an
verse 52):
endless series of incarnations in an everlasting
cycle of living and dying parallel universes, all the
while existing on a greater level of Awareness
...ye do well, & I will reward you here and
unknown for the most part to any of its
hereafter.
incarnations (except on the level at which true
Genius is realized) yet attainable via the
processes either of the Magick of Art (in all its
Now, at first this may seem troubling but only myriad forms e.g., painting, drawing, writing,
when taken out of context. It is very important to singing, dancing, acting, or what have you) or of
note what it means to do well: it is, quite simply, that of Initiated Attainment brought about by
to indulge in hedonistic vice. And why not? for Gnosis and Epiphany, through the hard work that
our Law holds that we are ourselves on some level they require to manifest fully.
one with our own divine being call it God or Self
or Atma or Holy Guardian Angel or Holy Supernal
Will or Thelema or Satan or whatever else have
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you only this much must be understood: that no
matter what one chooses to call it, it really is only
the Genius of the Mind, not something other than
No fanaticism in the name of a God whose
ourselves to which we need to bow and scrape for supposed nature is contrary to human nature.
crumbs of redemption doled out by some sadistic
divine tyrant.
I have written on this already. It is one of the
most important aspects of Thelemic ideology: that
Aiwass and the Beast and Babalon (i.e.Heru- no spiritual fantasy should be upheld above
ra-ha and Hadit and Nuit) are, in Thelemic
scientific reality. It is what sets Thelema apart
cosmology, one being in all creatures whether
from most other religions.
under the earth as it were (i.e. in the
subconscious realm of the mind), or upon the earth
(i.e. all conscious beings), or above the earth as And that leads us to the final stretch of our
it were (i.e. in the Supernal Mind, or the
discussion.
Transcendent Awareness beyond yet within all time
and space, from which all Genius originates). So
there is, in this atheistic religion in which God is
nothing more or less than the Genius of Humanity,
Thelemic Ideology
only one's own exalted Will to please. Thus, when
Aiwass, in his Hadit-aspect in Liber Legis, says
that he (or she as the case may be, for the
Now we wind down to the final section of my
Current is Androgynous, being at the root of all
thesis, which perhaps to some may also be the
conscious beings) is going to reward you here
most controversial part. For many seem to prefer
and hereafter, it is not the much wished-for yet to take Liber Legis literally, and would reject my
quite unrealistic promise of a dictatorial deity it
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opinions wholesale which is fine, but I refuse to because his own perspective is that of the
apologize for not being traditional and improving worshipper of the body of Babalon, which is the
upon Crowley's sometimes imperfect view, and I universe of matter and the wondrous possibilities
also choose to exercise the right to express the
thereof. Clearly there aren't many people literally
same. Simply put, I prefer to be my own master, worshipping the Ancient Egyptian deity Heru-paand not the slave of The Demon Crowley.
kraath these days, so the verse would have little
meaning to us without a subtle interpretation. And
the subtle meaning is likely to have something to
The literalist view is, however, ludicrous on the do with the peculiar spelling of the name for in
face of it and at times diametrically opposed to my other verses in the book it is given differently.
own, which is often more subtle and symbolic. Let
us consider a few verses that stand out in this
regard. (There are numerous examples of this to
be found Liber Legis, but we will look at just a
Of course we may conclude what we like, but
few here.)
Crowley, in The Equinox of the Gods, wrote on
this as follows:
The first and foremost example would be the
holy fourfold word of Thelema itself: Do what
I may admit a Qabalistic or cryptographic
thou wilt (L, 3:60). It doesn't mean do what
secondary meaning when such confirms, amplifies,
you wish at all for not only would that be
deepens, intensifies, or clarifes the obvious
impractical, but it could also prove to be insanely common-sense significance ; but only if it be part
dangerous. Such an interpretation would allow
of the general plan of the "latent light," and selfanyone who so wishes to slaughter anyone for no proven by abundant witness.
reason. Also, it would legitmitize racism, sexism,
or any other form of bigotry. Rather, it means to
do what is right for oneself and for all others as
Then he supplements this with the following:
well nor is it ever right to infringe upon another's
Will by any means, whether it be theft, uncalled-for
limitations on their freedoms, or whatever else.
Wherever
Every man and every woman is a star. (1:3)
Obviously, everyone is not literally a star. This
is a paralogical metaphor.
In ch.2 of the book we find Hadit, the Supernal
Beast, making excessive use of such metaphors.
He calls himself the axle of the wheel, and the
cube in the circle (2:7). He then proceeds to say
that those who worship Heru-pa-kraath do
naught but worship him which is frowned upon,
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Am
De Fundamentis Civitatis
(Of the Foundations of the State)
777
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