thelema

Formulation of the Body of Light in Thelema

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

Formulation of the Body of Light in Thelema

NOTE: Written originally on January 5, 2010

Imagine an image of yourself, standing in from of you.
Transfer your consciousness to it.
Rise upward.
Invoking forces desired by the prescribed methods.
Observe their appearance.
Test their authenticity.
Enter into conversation with them.
Travel under their guidance to the particular part of the universe which you desire to explore.
Return to earth.
Cause the Body of Light to coincide spatially with the physical.
Reconnect them, using the sign of Harpocrates.
Resume normal consciousness.
Record the experience.
Test its value by the critical methods advocated in The Equinox.

based on Confessions, ch.26

Supplemental quotations

“…the results of our magical experiments are naturally and necessarily very distinct from those which we obtain by ordinary methods. To begin with we must build up an apparatus of examination, and this we do by discovering and developing qualities in our own structure which are suitable for the purpose. The first step is the separation of (what we call, for convenience) the astral body from the physical body… All Magical action may be classed as under the formula of progression from the “0” to the “2”; in other words it is complete extraversion. The aspiring Magician only analyses himself for the purpose of finding new worlds to conquer. His first objective is the astral plane; its discovery, the classification of its tenants, and their control.” (MWT, ch.LXXXIII)
“The proper method is as follows: — Develop the body of Light until it is just as real to you as your other body, teach it to travel to any desired symbol, and enable it to perform all necessary Rites and Invocations. In short, educate it. Ultimately, the relation of that body with your own must be exceedingly intimate; but before this harmonizing takes place, you should begin by a careful differentiation. The first thing to do, therefore, is to get the body outside your own. To avoid muddling the two, you begin by imagining a shape resembling yourself standing in front of you. Do not say: “Oh, it’s only imagination!” The time to test that is later on, when you have secured a fairly clear mental image of such a body. Try to imagine how your own body would look if you were standing in its place; try to transfer your consciousness to the Body of Light. Your own body has its eyes shut. Use the eyes of the Body of Light to describe the objects in the room behind you. Don’t say. “It’s only an effort of subconscious memory” … the time to test that is later on. As soon as you feel more or less at home in the fine body, let it rise in the air. Keep on feeling the sense of rising; keep on looking about you as you rise until you see landscapes or beings of the astral plane. Such have a quality all their own. They are not like material things — they are not like mental pictures — they seem to lie between the two. After some practice has made you adept, so that in the course of any hour’s journey you can reckon on having a fairly eventful time, turn your attention to reaching a definite place on the astral plane; invoke Mercury, for example, and examine carefully your record of the resulting vision — discover whether the symbols which you have seen correspond with the conventional symbols of Mercury.” (MiTP, ch.XXVIII)
“Travel also much in the Empyrean in the Body of Light, seeking ever Abodes more fiery and lucid.” (Aleph)

Love is the law, love under will.

The Path of Excess in Thelema

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

The notion of the Middle Path is a view passed down to us most notably by Buddha and Aristotle. Buddha emphasized the Middle Way in the context of attainment, saying that the path of moderation lies between the extremes of austerity and indulgence. Aristotle emphasized what he called the Doctrine of the Mean, where ‘virtue’ lies precisely in the middle between the two extremes of any moral action: virtue is the ‘mean’ between two vices.

Thelema, on the other hand, is the Path of Excess. In this New Aeon, we venture to encounter both extremes in whatever case: indulgence & austerity, pride & humility, good & evil, heights & depths. The Book of the Law gives this formula clearly: “But exceed! exceed! Strive ever to more! and if thou art truly mine — and doubt it not, an if thou art ever joyous! — death is the crown of all” (II:71-72). The formula is given in even more detail in our Holy Book “Liber Tzaddi vel Hamus Hermeticus:”

33. I reveal unto you a great mystery. Ye stand between the abyss of height and the abyss of depth.
34. In either awaits you a Companion; and that Companion is Yourself.
35. Ye can have no other Companion.
36. Many have arisen, being wise. They have said “Seek out the glittering Image in the place ever golden, and unite yourselves with It.”
37. Many have arisen, being foolish. They have said, “Stoop down unto the darkly splendid world, and be wedded to that Blind Creature of the Slime.”
38. I who am beyond Wisdom and Folly, arise and say unto you: achieve both weddings! Unite yourselves with both!
39. Beware, beware, I say, lest ye seek after the one and lose the other!
40. My adepts stand upright; their head above the heavens, their feet below the hells.

Only in climbing towards the heights and plunging into the depths do we come to understand these Companions – that is, we come to know our own heights and depths instead of merely our average or middle-ground.

One could imagine the Middle Way or the Doctrine of the Mean as a tower or stick with a small base, easily blown over by the winds. The Path of Excess is opposite to this: we make our base as wide as possible so as to build the sturdiest foundations for our Pyramid. For every growth our plant makes upwards, we drive our roots deeper into the ground.

We now pass to Satyr-Saint Nietzsche who uncovered the insidious psychology behind these paths of the Middle and Mean… that what they call ‘moderation’ is actually ‘mediocrity:’

I pass through this people and keep mine eyes open; they have become smaller, and ever become smaller: the reason thereof is their doctrine of happiness and virtue.

For they are moderate also in virtue, because they want comfort. With comfort, however, moderate virtue only is compatible…

Some of them will, but most of them are willed. Some of them are genuine, but most of them are bad actors…

Virtue for them is what maketh modest and tame: therewith have they made the wolf a dog, and man himself man’s best domestic animal.

“We set our chair in the midst” – so saith their smirking unto me – “and as far from dying gladiators as from satisfied swine.” That, however, is mediocrity, though it be called moderation.“ (Thus Spake Zarathustra, “The Bedwarfing Virtue”)

This is the fact: the ‘moderate’ man is the ‘average’ man and therefore the mediocre man. He is nothing special, nothing important, nothing overly radiant or unique. These doctrines don’t breed lions & wolves but domesticated animals. At the back of of these virtues are the desire for tameness, comfort, and security. Not only do these people fear the extremes in themselves, setting up a division and therefore a restriction of their very Being, but they consequently fear the Extreme and Excessive being expressed in others. Fear and the desire for secure comfort are antithetical to the strong spirit of Will that is self-asserted, love-driven, strong, beautiful, and leaps with laughter. Our Prophet explains in his commentary to The Book of the Law this exact idea:

“Progress, as its very etymology declares, means A Step Ahead. It is the Genius, the Eccentric, the Man Who Goes One Better than his fellows, that is the Saviour of the Race. And while it is unwise possibly (in some senses) to exceed in certain respects, we may be sure that he who exceeds in no respect is a mediocrity.“

And therefore we close with a line from William Blake that To Mega Therion himself quoted as commentary to “Exceed! Exceed!” from Liber AL:

“The road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom.”

Love is the law, love under will.

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The Qabalistic Keys to Thelemic Mysticism

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

NOTE: Written originally on December 28, 2009

i) The Human Soul is divided among the Tree of Life as the Neschamah, Ruach, and Nephesh.

ii) Neschamah corresponds to the Supernal Triangle which is the 3-in-1 of Jechidah, Chiah, and Neschamah; Ruach is the mind and the Nephesh includes both the body & physical world. [1]

iii) The Soul encompasses the whole Tree. [2]

iv) In the elemental schema, Spirit is assigned to the Supernal Triangle, the elements of Air/Fire/Water to the Mental Triangle, and Earth to the Physical pendant, i.e. Malkuth. Further, it is useful to consider Neschamah as inside rather than ‘above’ c.f. Kether as “center & secret of the sun”/Tiphareth, with Ruach & Nephesh about the core.

v) ‘Understanding’ is for the Neschamah, ‘Knowledge’ for the Ruach.

vi) ‘Knowledge’ is ‘lower knowledge’ of relations, facts, etc. and is subject to logic.

vii) Understanding is ‘higher knowledge’ or ‘gnosis’ which is supra-logical. This is the reason why Truth is expressed in paradox and said to be beyond Reason by virtually all mystics. [3]

viiii) Nephesh & Ruach (body & mind) block perception of Neschamah, but they are also the means of Manifestation of the Neschamah.

ix) The Ruach can only reach up to Da’ath which is a “false sephira.” This re-iterates the fact that truth is supra-rational/logical. [4]

x) The goal of Yoga is expressed Qabalistically with the number ‘0.’ [5]

xi) 0 or ‘Nothing’ is used instead of 1 or ‘Unity’ because 1 is opposed to & canceled out by -1. 0 therefore expresses the result of the union of opposites, and “Yoga means Union.” [6]

xii) Other numbers (and images) also express this same idea, yet “every number is infinite, there is no difference” in that they all “shadow forth the Ineffable” and Infinite. [7]

xiii) The unity is between seer and seen, subject and object, perceiver and perceived in consciousness. The ‘evil’ in this case (being relative to our particular task) is separation of any kind, primarily between self and environment/ego and the world/Me and thee. [8]

xiv) This is expressed symbolically as 0, as stated in (ix), as well as the Rose-Cross, cross in the circle, point in the circle, the hexagram, mother and father, and essentially any other symbol that is Two-in-One. This is sometimes called Three-in-One because the ‘Third’ is concealed in the Entire Image in one sense. [9]

[1] See Little Essays Toward Truth, “Man.” Neschamah encompasses Kether, Chokmah, and Binah; Ruach encompasses Chesed, Geburah, Tiphareth, Netzach, Hod, and Yesod; Nephesh encompasses Malkuth.

[2] Further: The glyph of Venus encompasses the Tree of Life like the Human Soul cf. (iii). Venus is the glyph of Love which, in its most abstract form, is unity between any two things. Qabalistically ‘Love’/Venus refers to the uniting principle between Chokmah & Binah or Father & Mother of the Supernal Triangle which is yet another Two-in-One symbol c.f. (xiii)

[3] See the “Mundaka Upanishad” on this idea of higher knowledge pertaining to Self-knowledge and lower knowledge pertaining to all things we think of knowledge like science, history, math, philosophy, logic, facts in general, etc.

[4] “Briefly, Truth is an idea of a supra-rational order, pertaining to Neschamah, not to Ruach.” See Little Essays Toward Truth, “Truth”

[5] See Crowley’s “Berashith”, 777, and Book of Thoth (Atu 0: Fool) on this point.

[6] See Eight Lectures on Yoga, Lecture 1.

[7] See Liber AL I:4 and see footnote 9 below.

[8] “There was the Door to which I found no Key; / There was the Veil through which I might not see: / Some little talk awhile of Me and Thee / There was–and then no more of Thee and Me.” –Omar Khayyam, The Rubaiyat.

[9] “If we in any way shadow forth the Ineffable, it must be by a degradation. Every symbol is a blasphemy against the Truth that it indicates. A painter to remind us of the sunset has no better material than dull ochre. So we need not be surprised if the Unity of Subject and Object in Consciousness which is Samadhi, the uniting of the Bride and the Lamb which is Heaven, the uniting of the Magus and the God which is Evocation, the uniting of the Man and his Holy Guardian Angel which is the seal upon the work of the Adeptus Minor, is symbolized by the geometrical unity of the circle and the square, the arithmetical unity of the 5 and the 6, and (for more universality of comprehension) the uniting of the Lingam and Yoni, the Cross and the Rose. For as in earth-life the sexual ecstasy is the loss of self in the Beloved, the creation of a third consciousness transcending its parents, which is again reflected into matter as a child; so, immeasurably higher, upon the Plane of Spirit, Subject and Object join to disappear, leaving a transcendent unity. This third is ecstasy and death; as above, so below.” -Aleister Crowley, “The Big Stick” in The Equinox I(04)

Love is the law, love under will.

Thelemic Blog Roundup 001

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

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

PART I: Dispensation from the Secret Chiefs

PART II: The Duty to Preach His Law

PART III: Looking Towards the Future

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.
MAGISTER: 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

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.

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.”

The 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.

Many 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. Crowley, 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.” 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.

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