Misplaced Pages

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Zosodada (talk | contribs) at 14:55, 31 January 2005 (→Aleister Crowley's Thelema: added Rabelais, Gargantua & Pantagruel). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Thelema is the English spelling of the Greek word 'Θελημα' which means 'will' or 'intention.'

Aleister Crowley's Thelema

Thelema is the name of a philosophical/religious system established in 1904 by Aleister Crowley with the writing of Liber AL vel Legis, or The Book of the Law. This small book Crowley claimed to have taken as dictation from a spiritual being in Cairo on April 8th, 9th, and 10th.

Crowley was a fan of 16th century French satirist Francois Rabelais. Rabelais included a place called The Abbey of "Theleme" in his epic lampoon of religion, mysticism and politics, Gargantua and Pantagruel . Gargantua built "Theleme" (which was located along the Loire River), a parodic Abbey with a central doctrine of freedom.

The central doctrine of this system is that knowing and doing one's True Will is the ultimate purpose and duty of every being. This is summed up with the following phrases from Liber Legis,

• "Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law" (AL I:40)
• "Love is the law, love under will" (AL I:57)
• "The word of the law is Thelema" (AL I:39)
• "There is no law beyond Do what thou wilt" (AL III:60)

The True Will is a mystical concept that could be described as the one path of possible actions and encounters one finds no resistance in going. It is presumed that to do one's True Will is to be assisted by the whole universe, and that two True Wills can never contradict. Hence, to follow one's True Will means to respect every other True Will, which is described in "Love is the law". Opinions vary on whether one can know one's True Will, or merely judge by one's success in life.

Thelema stresses personal Freedom (balanced by disciplined responsibility), the inherent divinity of every human ("Every man and every woman is a star" –AL I:3), and the battle against superstition, tyranny, and oppression.

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.

Living Thelema usually, but not necessarily, is intertwined with the practice of magic, particularly of the concepts and techniques explored and invented by Crowley.

A number of organizations follow the tenets of Thelema. Primarily, these include Ordo Templi Orientis and the Argentinum Astrum, or A.'.A.'.. Other groups exist which have drawn inspiration or methods from Thelema but which never fully accepted Crowley's complete teachings, such as the Illuminates of Thanateros and the Temple of Set. The Fraternitas Saturni and related groups are special in that they accept Thelema, but extend it by the phrase "Mitleidlose Liebe!" ("Merciless love!")

Samael Aun Weor's Thelema

The motto for the International Gnostic Movement is Thelema, as stated in The Yellow Book by Samael Aun Weor.

The main difference between the teachings of Samael Aun Weor and that of Aleister Crowley is that the former absolutely professes the practice of White tantrism to achieve self-realization.

See Also...

Compare with: Wiccan Rede, Taoism

• Thelema