This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Fubar Obfusco (talk | contribs) at 20:42, 14 April 2004 ("Tenants" are people who live in rented apartments. You want "tenets", which are doctrines.). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.
Revision as of 20:42, 14 April 2004 by Fubar Obfusco (talk | contribs) ("Tenants" are people who live in rented apartments. You want "tenets", which are doctrines.)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)Thelema is the English spelling of the Greek word 'Θελημα' which implies 'will' or 'intention.'
Thelema is also the name of a philosophical/religious system founded by Aleister Crowley in 1904. The central doctrine of this system is that knowing and doing one's True Will is the ultimate purpose and duty of every being. Crowley's 'received' text Liber AL vel Legis or The Book of the Law is the central document which provides the basis for Thelema. This book declares that "Love is the law, love under will", "Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law", and "The word of the Law is Thelema".
The Greek Thelema is the basis of the word Thelemite, coined by François Rabelais, the 16th century French humorist-philosopher in his classic work Gargantua, where it is used to describe the dwellers in a sort of anti-monastery, the Abbey of Thélème. The word Thelemite appears in The Book of the Law, and is used self-referentially by the adherents of Thelema.
Two of the organizations that follow the tenets of Thelema are the Ordo Templi Orientis and the Argentinum Astrum.
Compare with: Wiccan Rede