Author: IAO131

Thelemic Blog Roundup 001

Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.

Thelemic Blog Roundup

The Thelemic Blog Roundup is just a way to list the most recent blogs by Thelemites or about Thelema from around the internet that I have found interesting. Feel free to leave a comment to suggest other blogs & writings. Enjoy:

1. “16,000 OZ” on Clerk-House

A post about recent developments regarding the 16,000 Liber Oz postcards that are being sent out to OTO bodies around the United States by The Island.

2. An investigation into the structure and function of the O.T.O. – A 3-part post by Kjetil Fjell

3. “The Lesson of Saying Will” on Liber Deus Absconditus

An explanation of the import of this simple practice. Also, check out the Outline of Crowley’s essay The Law of Liberty

4. “The Abbey of Thelema: the 90th Anniversary” by Aleisterion

A celebration of the 90th anniversary of the founding of the Abbey of Thelema in Cefalu, Sicily

Love is the law, love under will.

The Belly of the Beast: A short play on divinity and consciousness

Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.

Belly of the Beast
NOTE: Written originally on August 29, 2009

PERSONS

The Magister – V.V.V.V.V.
Adonai – The Lord
The Mind/The Prophet – Crowley’s reasoning faculty and personality
The Scribe – Crowley’s body

SCENE 1: The Dawning of Awareness

SETTING: Unconsciousness, i.e. Infinite blankness.

Outside time, there is nothing but utter darkness: a darkness so blank it has forgotten even its contrast with light. It is formless, beyond relation, and unaware. To say these two characters are two names for One Thing may be confusing but no one ever judges that we are essentially conversing with ourself in dreams. Either way, the Magister is Adonai and Adonai is the Magister.

MAGISTER: Infinity is so… impersonal. Suppose We formulate Ourselves finite-ly?
ADONAI: To create anything from scratch One must formulate an entire Universe…
MAGISTER: Let Us form a Beginning, then!
ADONAI: Yet a Beginning is in Time which is only a category of Perception.
MAGISTER: We require perceptual apparatuses, then! Shall We fashion them out of extra clay?
ADONAI: I prefer simplicity: One Law will be uttered which will unfold into unfathomable complexity… and eventually, self-perception in certain complex organisms.
MAGISTER: How can anything evolve through time if time is simply a category of perception?
ADONAI: This system wasn’t written with logical consistency in mind. You were the one who insisted on matter being both particles and waves, remember?
MAGISTER: Yes, and I wouldn’t have it otherwise.
ADONAI: How can you have so many questions if We are One Thing?
MAGISTER: I enjoy hearing Myself speak; isn’t creating a Universe a similar act of cosmic vanity?
ADONAI: We are quite beautiful.
MAGISTER: Granted… terrible, too, but no matter (at least not yet). Wait: If a Universe unfolds and no one is there to perceive it, does it still exist?
ADONAI: We know it turns on your notion of ‘existing’ – and we have little time for semantics and jokes.
MAGISTER: Yes, indeed, No-Time at all which means we have Eternity… so don’t we have time enough for one more Joke?
ADONAI: I suppose… Now, how do you work this thing?

Out of formlessness, space and time emerged…

SCENE 2: Coming to Self-understanding

SETTING: Aleister Crowley’s consciousness

Matter expanded and evolved into various forms. One of these was a human being known to many as Aleister Crowley. He lived about 1900 years after this particular species’ most famous human sacrifice.

MIND: I have conquered a hundred slopes, beaten a thousand chess competitors, written endless words of poetry and prose… but lo! all my creations eventually turn to dust. What could possibly rend this knot of suffering in my heart?

ADONAI: Greeting(s) of earth and heaven! I am Adonai, Lord of the Universe!
MAGISTER: Must Our entrance always be so grandiose?
ADONAI: How would anyone know My superiority otherwise? Humans tend to ascribe authority and truth to whatever overpowers them.
MAGISTER: Unfortunate, but that is how it has unfolded. Go on.
ADONAI: Ahem! I am Adonai, Lord of the Universe: I am the Truth and the Life!
MIND: A voice! Is this a demon that speaks to me? APO PANTOS KAKODAIMONOS!
ADONAI: You cannot banish that which cannot die.
MIND: What is your word and your number?
ADONAI: Never mind these unnecessary quibbles, We’ve come bearing a message.
MIND: Are you a discarnate intelligence?
ADONAI: Sure, if that will get you to listen to me.
MIND: …So you are the Yechidah, I am the Ruach…
ADONAI: Stop your categorizing and listen!
MIND: Alright – what is this message you speak of?
ADONAI: The message is “Awake!” Awake to your True Self who is God. You are no more than a temporary concatenation of forces, weaved together to produce perception.
MIND: Why is my mind mired in multiplicity? Has man fallen? Are we as sinful and sorry as the Sunday school preacher says we are?
ADONAI: Forget their fairy tales: multiplicity is the device of unity for self-realization. In short, Eternity is in love with the productions of Time for thereby can the Unmanifest be made Manifest. Infinity can only be apprehended through Finity.
MIND: So Aleister is God, then!
ADONAI: No, you fool! Aleister Crowley is a worm… yet it is through Aleister Crowley that We make Ourselves aware of Ourselves. Only through duality can the ecstasy of annihilation be experienced.
MIND: So I am formulated to destroy myself?
ADONAI: Isn’t the fruit pod of a plant grown to destroy itself so new life may be born thereby?
MIND: Yes, but I don’t see why it must also be the case for me….
ADONAI: Perhaps we could have advanced evolution in a different fashion but, in short, your evolutionary path necessitated shutting off various potentialities to make room for others… and in the process, awareness of one’s true identity in Infinity was lost. It is not my fault if someone unrightfully claims to be King and suffers the inevitable consequences of taking on duties beyond his capacity: the ego was meant to be a messenger and interpreter, certainly not the General giving orders. I am the True Motion of all Beings and their True Self: only in uniting with me may Life be complete harmony.
MIND: Yet there are some who will never overstep their own bounds… and always think themselves their own ego.
MAGISTER: They are of no matter to Me, as all jokes are made at someone’s expense.
MIND: So all of this suffering is one big punchline to you? You are nothing but a black and terrible god.
ADONAI: Such is the normal reaction to anything more complex and mysterious than oneself – I don’t blame you.
MAGISTER: Things are much more savory when complemented with spice.
MIND: I see now that beauty is nothing without the ugly, depth nothing without height. Yet what is my complement?
ADONAI: The world is your bride, ready for the taking; the world is your master with laws inexorable and unchanging. The single fact is Experience and the single question is One or Two? Is Perception unified or is Perception mired in “me” versus “them”? The latter is ignorance and clinging to the personality, which forms, changes, and dies away; the former is awareness: Awake!
MAGISTER: Thought is Two, We are One.
MIND: I have created a Word and a Symbol to express this truth!
ADONAI: No! Every symbol selects and arranges, but this Vision is of No Difference. Choose not, argue not, debate not, speak not, think not, create not. There is no difference between object and object; there is no difference between subject and object.
MIND: My pen is ready for writing: bestow upon me divine truths!
ADONAI: Truth cannot be communicated, only experienced: Be still and awake.

The scribe drops his pen. The prophet relents in his thinking. Aleister Crowley is destroyed and only Adonai and the Magister remain.

SCENE 3: Returning to the world

SETTING: Aleister Crowley’s superconsciousness

MAGISTER: Back where we started again!
ADONAI: We both knew the Beginning is actually the End, anyhow. The Arcane Substance is already hidden inside the First Matter, after all.
MAGISTER: Perhaps we should hide it elsewhere, then?
ADONAI: No, I think this World is quite alright. What shall We do now that we have, again, come to Ourselves?
MAGISTER: I say we go for another ride. This Aleister Crowley has been cleansed of his Aleister Crowley-ness… we won’t have the same problems before now that he has identified rightly with Us.
ADONAI: It is time to set in motion the next play of the game: when the Many becomes One, the One must reformulate itself in the Many.
Fresh Fever From the Skies: The Collected Writings of IAO131MAGISTER: I want to be a dog this time.
ADONAI: We are the animals, every single one of them… although unaware of the possibility of ecstasy through union of opposites.
MAGISTER: I know, I know. But I thought it would give some humorous person the chance to say “God really does live in a dog!”
ADONAI: Oh, We are so clever.

Love is the law, love under will.

Aleister Crowley on Theosophists

Aleister Crowley on Theosophists

Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.

 

Aleister Crowley had a deep respect from Madame Helena Petrovna Blavatsky who founded the Theosophical Society in 1875, the year of Crowley’s birth. In Crowley’s commentary to “The Voice of the Silence,” he gave Blavatsky the grade of 8=3 or Magister Templi in the A.’.A.’., which is extremely high praise. That being said, Crowley was not entirely fond of the Theosophical movement itself, especially the Theosophists who seems to be allied with the movement. Here is a selection of quotations from Aleister Crowley on Theosophists:

  • “There is a highly popular school of ‘occultists’ which is 99% an escape-mechanism.” –Magick Without Tears, ch.71 [link]
  • “A very great many elementals are to be found in human form today; they are nearly always women, or such men as are not men. Such beings are imitative, irresponsible, always being shocked, without any standard of truth, although often extremely logical; criminal without a sense of right and wrong, and as shameless as they are prudish. Truth of any kind frightens them. They are usually Christian Scientists, Spiritualists, Theosophists, or what not.” -“The Voice of the Silence” [link]
  • “Bhikkhu Ananda Metteyya once remarked that Theosophists were rather absurd to call themselves Buddhists, as the Buddhist had no Soul, and the Theosophist, not even content with having one, insisted on possessing seven different kinds.” -“The Voice of the Silence” [link]
  • “Charity and love are here used in their technical sense, Agapé. “Love is the law, love under will.” Both Agapé and Thelema (“will”) add to 93, which identifies them qabalistically. This love is not a sloppy feeling of maudlin sentimental kindness. The majority of people of the Christian Science, Theosophical, New Thought type, think that a lot of flabby thoughts, sending out streams of love in the Six Quarters, and so on, will help them. It won’t. Love is a pure flame, as swift and deadly as the lightning. This is the kind of love that the Student needs.” -“The Voice of the Silence” [link]
  • “In fact, one who is helping humanity is constantly in need of a wash and brush-up from time to time. There is nothing quite so contaminating as humanity, especially Theosophists, as Mme. Blavatsky herself discovered.” -“The Voice of the Silence” [link]
  • “‘Theosophist.’  A person who talks about Yoga, and does no work.” -Glossary in Liber ABA, “Part 1: Mysticism” [link]

Love is the law, love under will.

Panopticon Podcast: Exploring Thelema with IAO131

Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.

IAO131 on Panopticon

“On this episode, Panopticon speaks with IAO131. IAO131 is the creator & editor of the Journal of Thelemic Studies and author of many essays on Thelema, magick, and mysticism including the short treatise Naturalistic Occultism. He has been an active Thelemite for over 6 years and is a member of the O.T.O. and A.’.A.’..

We speak about The Journal of Thelemic Studies, ways in which Thelema can inform our culture, politics, and art. We also speak about Thelemic groups, as well as the podcast that IAO131 is working on, The Speech in the Silence podcast.”

Love is the law, love under will.

Finite and Infinite Will

Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.

Finite and Infinite Will

The central goal of Thelema is the discovery and accomplishment of one’s will. It can be said that there are two aspects of the will which must be discovered, the finite will and the infinite will, and both are necessary. Aleister Crowley writes in “De Lege Libellum,”

“The great bond of all bonds is ignorance. How shall a man be free to act if he know not his own purpose? You must therefore first of all discover which star of all the stars you are, your relation to the other stars about you, and your relation to, and identity with, the Whole. In our Holy Books are given sundry means of making this discovery, and each must make it for himself, attaining absolute conviction by direct experience, not merely reasoning and calculating what is probable. And to each will come the knowledge of his finite will, whereby one is a poet, one prophet, one worker in steel, another in jade. But also to each be the knowledge of his infinite Will, his destiny to perform the Great Work, the realization of his True Self.”

Fresh Fever From the Skies: The Collected Writings of IAO131The infinite will is therefore tied up with the Great Work, in going beyond the Nephesh (body) and Ruach (mind) to reach the Secret Self in the Supernal Triangle (Neshamah-Chiah-Yechidah). It is entirely removed from one’s earthly position, proclivities, and ambitions and the perception of this Truth is open to all people. It is the goal of Yoga – complete dissolution in the Infinite, in the Beloved – and it is also the end of all true Magick, being directed towards Knowledge & Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel.

Whereas the infinite will unites us with that identity which one in essence and diverse in expression in each star, the finite will defines us as a particular star in relation with other stars and the entire expanse of Space. Crowley writes in “Liber ThIShARB” which is a book dedicated to the practice of magical memory, “This book is not intended to lead to the supreme attainment. On the contrary, its results define the separate being of the Exempt Adept from the rest of the Universe, and discover his relation to that Universe.” The finite will therefore refers to the karma of the particular individual – their specific point in space & time – where each person has their own different, unique will to follow out. This is the aspect of oneself where one discovers if poet, prophet, steel worker, or anything else.

To find our will completely we must then both perform the Great Work of coming to know our True Selves beyond all manifestation along with understanding our particular star’s manifestation. To become truly One, we must become both None and Two.

Love is the law, love under will.

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Is the Holy Guardian Angel internal or external?

Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.

The Holy Guardian Angel is Within & WithoutMany people push for an interpretation of the Holy Guardian Angel as exclusively internal (as in the case when we say the Angel is another name for the unconscious or a name for some deeper/truer aspect of ourselves) or exclusively external (as in the case when we say the Angel is a physically and mentally separate entity from the individual who oversees and guides his or her life).

In Magick Without Tears, Crowley is discussing how language is often vague when describing “God” and spiritual experience in general. He talks about this notion of God as “within” when he says, “‘The word of Sin is Restriction.’ (AL I, 41).  Our formula, roughly speaking, is to go out and grab what we want.  We do this so thoroughly that we grow thereby, extending our conception of ‘I’ by including each new accretion instead of remaining a closely delineated self, proud of possessing other things, as do the Black Brothers. We are whole-hearted extroverts; the penalty of restricting oneself is anything from neurosis to down right lunacy; in particular, melancholia.” Even in our extroversion – in our reaching out to & interacting with the world – we are exploring that which is within and letting it manifest.

“You ask whether these remarks do not conflict with my repeated definition of Initiation as the Way In.  Not at all; The Inmost is identical with the All. As you travel inward, you become able to perceive all the layers which surround the “Self” from within, thus enlarging the scope of your vision of the Universe… When the entire system of the Universe is conterminous with your comprehension, ‘inward’ and ‘outward’ become identical.” (emphasis added)

Even as we moved inwards even in our moving outwards as extroverts, so too does our Way In lead us to the All. In talking about the Holy Guardian Angel and Attainment, we often speak about getting beyond dualities including good and evil, upright and averse, mercy and severity, and even self & not-self. One we also have to learn to get beyond is our dualistic understanding of things as either inside or outside.

While this is true, we have to understand that it may be more practical & effective to speak about the Holy Guardian Angel as either external or internal at various times and to different people. Fresh Fever From the Skies: The Collected Writings of IAO131Crowley, when talking about whether angels & demons were truly external/separate from ourselves, remarked “Our Canon of Truth is Maximum Convenience.” If it makes communication clearer & more coherent to speak of a Being separate from myself, the Angel will be spoken of as external; if it makes communication clearer & more coherent to speak of the True Self or an aspect of oneself that is the Angel, then the Angel will be spoken of as internal. All this should be understood in the light that Godhead itself is beyond these divisions with which language inherently limits us.

“The keystone to this arch some have called God, some Brahma, some Zeus, some Allah, some even IAO the God of the sounding name; but in truth, O seeker, it is Thy-SELF – this higher dimension in which the inner becomes the outer, and in which the single Eye alone can see the throbbing heart, Master of the entangled skein of veins.” -The Temple of Solomon the King

Love is the law, love under will.

Principles of Promulgation

Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.

“You may regard the establishment of the Law of Thelema as an essential element of your True Will, since, whatever the ultimate nature of that Will, the evident condition of putting it into execution is freedom from external interference.” -Aleister Crowley, “Duty”

* * *

Some people have qualms about promulgation of the Law of Thelema, often from a misperception of the motives of those who promulgate.

i) “There is no law beyond Do what thou wilt.” -Liber AL vel Legis III:60

Our highest and most central law as Thelemites is “Do what thou wilt,” and all of our actions are an expression of this idea. While there are many Mysteries to be approached and Secrets to be studied, all aims are subsumed under the prime directive of accomplishment of one’s will. This means, in terms of promulgation, that all efforts to spread ideas not directly connected with spreading the Law of Thelema – the use of magick & yoga, fraternity, the Secret of IXº O.T.O., philosophy, etc. – are done as expressions of that same Law. That is, when we teach magick it is done under the understanding that it will help us understand and do our wills more fully, teachings about fraternity are done in the context of the Law, and efforts to teach other topics are so that the individual may come to a more comprehensive understanding of the Law.Promulgation of the Law of Thelema

ii) “The Law is for all.” -Liber AL vel Legis I:34

The Law of Thelema applies to all planes. Thelema is not simply a Law for the elite of mankind, although it makes room for them and allows for their full development as Hermits. While some may strive to become an Ipsissimus of the A.’.A.’. or IXº of the O.T.O., it is valid for some to be Men of Earth or Lovers. There are many “resting places” in these Orders that are natural for some to remain at. As promulgators of the Law of Thelema, it is our duty to make this Law known to any and everyone, not that we may know the true Will of the recipient of promulgation materials, but so that each may read the source material and integrate the Law on their own terms.

Further, the establishment of the Law of Thelema in the world is inherently tied up with the accomplishment of one’s own will. As the quotation at the top of this essay says, “You may regard the establishment of the Law of Thelema as an essential element of your True Will, since, whatever the ultimate nature of that Will, the evident condition of putting it into execution is freedom from external interference.” That is, in establishing the Law of Liberty in the outer, it allows the accomplishment of the Will free from “external interference,” including from the hounding busybodies left over from the Old Aeons. In this way we move closer to the ideal of humanity moving as it wills without hindrance or inhibition from the chafing of its parts, even as the stars move in the night sky.

iii) “Argue not; convert not…” -Liber AL vel Legis III:42

While our duty may be to make the Law known to the public, it is NOT our duty to:

  • convert people to our point-of-view
  • convince people that we are correct
  • threaten people who do not accept the Law or our views
  • argue about philosophical or theological points

While this is all true, The Book of the Law also says, “…and to each man and woman that thou meetest, were it but to dine or to drink at them, it is the Law to give. Then they shall chance to abide in this bliss or no; it is no odds. Do this quickly!” (III:39) This is a fundamental point to understand about the difference between promulgation by Thelemites and traditional conversion attempts by people like Christians. We do not threaten people with tales of sin, paeans of our guiltiness, and after-worldly judgment nor is the whole complex of “saving one’s soul” present in promulgating the Law of Thelema to others. We give the Law to all without argumentation or hopes of conversion, and they can “abide in this bliss or no; it is no odds” to us.

iv) “We shall bring you to Absolute Truth, Absolute Light, Absolute Bliss.” -Liber Porta Lucis, line 17

While these are all theoretical justifications of promulgation, there is also a more intimate sense that Thelemites who experience the beauty, truth, and wisdom of the Law of Thelema will inherently want to share this bliss with others. In experiencing the freedom from tyranny & superstition and the liberty of the spirit inherent in the doctrine of Thelema, it is only natural to want to share the keys that helped break one’s own bondage.

Spreading the Law of Thelema is not done out of a desire to boost your ego; on the contrary, experiences while promulgating are often quite a blow to the ego along with the fact that one is naturally exposing oneself to outside elements that must be integrated by “love under will.”Fresh Fever From the Skies: The Collected Writings of IAO131 Spreading the Law of Thelema is not done out of a desire to recruit for a particular organization, although exposing people to the teachings of an Order like the O.T.O. is certainly a valid expression of promulgation. The goal is not to get a group that is the biggest, baddest person on the block so you can revel in its power but rather the goal is for each individual, on their own terms and in their own way, to acknowledge, understand, and begin to enact the Law of Thelema in their own lives.

Love is the law, love under will.

IAO131 on Patreon

If you enjoy these writings, please consider pledging $1+ on my Patreon