THELEME:

 
What is Thelema?

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

Thelema ("THEL-ay-mah") is a Greek word meaning "will" or "intention". It is also the name of a new spiritual philosophy which has arisen over the past several hundred years and is now gradually becoming established worldwide.

One of the earliest mentions of this philosophy occurs in the classic Gargantua and Pantagruel written by Francois Rabelais in 1532. One episode of this epic adventure tells of the founding of an "Abbey of Thelema" as an institution for the cultivation of human virtues, which Rabelais identified as being squarely opposite the prevailing Christian proprieties of the time. The sole rule of the Abbey of Thelema was: "Do what thou wilt". This has become one of the basic tenets of Thelemic philosophy today.

Although touched upon by various prominent visionary thinkers in the following few hundred years, the seeds of Thelema sown by Rabelais eventually came to fruition in the early part of this century when developed by an Englishman named Aleister Crowley. Crowley was a poet, author, mountaineer, magician, and member of the occult society known as the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. In 1904, while travelling in Egypt with his wife Rose, Crowley became inextricably involved in a series of events which he claimed to inaugurate a new aeon of human evolution. These culminated in April when Crowley entered a state of trance and wrote down the three chapters of 220 verses which came to be called The Book of the Law (also known as Liber AL and Liber Legis). Among other things, this book declared: "The word of the law is Thelema" and "Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law".

Crowley spent the rest of his life developing the philosophy of Thelema as revealed by the Book of the Law. The result was a voluminous output of commentary and works relating to magick, mysticism, yoga, qabalah, and other occult subjects. Virtually all of this writing bears the influence of Thelema as interpreted and understood by Crowley in his capacity as prophet of the New Aeon.

"It is the dawn of the æon.
The æons of cursing are passed away.
Force and fire, strength and sight,
these are for the servants
of the Star and the Snake."

The Vision and the Voice, 26th Æthyr.

Many Thelemites are also practitioners of magic, which was defined by Aleister Crowley as "the Science and Art of causing Change to occur in conformity with Will". By this definition, magick is especially appropriate for Thelemites, given the emphasis of Thelema upon the individual discovery and following of the True Will.

A practitioner of magic performs rituals, either alone or as part of a group, designed to accomplish a given purpose. A ritual is a pre-determined series of actions which might include gestures, chants, recitation of invocatory lines, visualisations, meditation, etc. Rituals are most often performed in a designated setting, which may be a sacred grove or other outdoor location, or an indoor space equipped as a temple. Candles, incense, and magical implements such as the wand, cup, Djesit (sacred athame), and pentacle may be used, according to the requirements of the particular ritual. All of these elements combine to imprint the desired change in the consciousness of the magician.

An Excerpt from Magick in Theory and Practice
by Aleister Crowley (1929)

"Magick is the Highest, most Absolute, and most Divine Knowledge of Natural Philosophy; advanced in its works and wonderful operations by a right understanding of the inward and occult virtue of things; so that true Agents being applied to proper Patients, strange and admirable effects will thereby be produced. Whence magicians are profound and diligent searchers into Nature; they, because of their skill, know how to anticipate an effect, the which to the vulgar shall seem to be a miracle."