Introduction to Magick
 

     "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."

     -- The Goetia of the Lemegeton of King Solomon.

     "Whenever sympathetic magic occurs in its pure unadulterated form, it is assumed that in
     nature one event follows another necessarily and invariably without the intervention of any
     spiritual or personal agency. Thus its fundamental conception is identical with that of
     modern science; underlying the whole system is a faith, implicit but real and firm, in the
     order and uniformity of nature. The magician does not doubt that the same causes will
     always produce the same effects, that the performance of the proper ceremony
     accompanied by the appropriate spell, will inevitably be attended by the desired results,
     unless, indeed, his incantations should chance to be thwarted and foiled by the more
     potent charms of another sorcerer. He supplicates no higher power: he sues the favour of
     no fickle and wayward being: he abases himself before no awful deity. Yet his power, great
     as he believes it to be, is by no means arbitrary and unlimited. He can wield it only so long
     as he strictly conforms to the rules of his art, or to what may be called the laws of nature
     as conceived by him. To neglect these rules, to break these laws in the smallest particular
     is to incur failure, and may even expose the unskillful practitioner himself to the utmost
     peril. If he claims a sovereignty over nature, it is a constitutional sovereignty rigorously
     limited in its scope and exercised in exact conformity with ancient usage. Thus the
     analogy between the magical and the scientific conceptions of the world is close. In both of
     them the succession of events is perfectly regular and certain, being determined by
     immutable laws, the operation of which can be foreseen and calculated precisely; the
     elements of caprice, of chance, and of accident are banished from the course of nature.
     Both of them open up a seemingly boundless vista of possibilities to him who knows the
     causes of things and can touch the secret springs that set in motion the vast and intricate
     mechanism of the world. Hence the strong attraction which magic and science alike have
     exercised on the human mind; hence the powerful stimulus that both have given to the
     pursuit of knowledge. They lure the weary enquirer, the footsore seeker, on through the
     wilderness of disappointment in the present by their endless promises of the future: they
     take him up to the top of an exceeding high mountain and shew him, beyond the dark
     clouds and rolling mist at his feet, a vision of the celestial city, far off, it may be, but radiant
     with unearthly splendour, bathed in the light of dreams."

     -- Dr. J. G. FRAZER, "The Golden Bough".

     "So far, therefore, as the public profession of magic has been one of the roads by which
     men have passed to supreme power, it has contributed to emancipate mankind from the
     thraldom of tradition and to elevate them into a larger, freer life, with a broader outlook on
     the world. This is no small service rendered to humanity. And when we remember further
     that in another direction magic has paved the way for science, we are forced to admit that if
     the black arts has done much evil, it has also been the source of much good; that if it is
     the child of error, it has been the mother of freedom and truth."

                                                          -- Ibid.

     "Prove all things; hold fast that which is good".

                                                                  -- St. Paul.

     "Also the mantras and the spells; the obeah and the wanga; the work of the wand and the
     work of the sword: these he shall learn and teach.
     "He must teach; but he may make severe the ordeals.
     "The word of the Law is THELEMA."

   -- LIBER AL vel xxxi: The Book of the Law.
 
 

This book is for ALL: for every man, woman, and child.

My former work has been misunderstood, and its scope limited, by my use of technical terms. It has
attracted only too many dilettanti and eccentrics, weaklings seeking in "Magic" an escape from reality. I
myself was first consciously drawn to the subject in this way. And it has repelled only too many
scientific and practical minds, such as I most designed to influence. But MAGICK is for ALL.

I have written this book to help the Banker, the Pugilist, the Biologist, the Poet, the Navvy, the Grocer,
the Factory Girl, the Mathematician, the Stenographer, the Golfer, the Wife, the Consul--and all the
rest--to fulfil themselves perfectly, each in his or her own proper function.

Let me explain in a few words how it came about that I blazoned the word MAGICK upon the Banner that
I have borne before me all my life.

Before I touched my teens, I was already aware that I was The Beast whose number is 666. I did not
understand in the least what that implied; it was a passionately ecstatic sense of identity.

In my third year at Cambridge, I devoted myself consciously to the Great Work, understanding thereby
the Work of becoming a Spiritual Being, free from the constraints, accidents, and deceptions of material
existence.

I found myself at a loss for a name to designate my work, just as H.P. Blavatsky some years earlier.
"Theosophy", "Spiritualism", "Occultism", "Mysticism", all involved undesirable connotations.

I chose therefore the name "MAGICK" as essentially the most sublime, and actually the most
discredited, of all the available terms.

I swore to rehabilitate MAGICK, to identify it with my own career; and to compel mankind to respect,
love, and trust that which they scorned, hated and feared. I have kept my Word.

But the time is now come for me to carry my banner into the thick of the press of human life.

I must make MAGICK the essential factor in the life of ALL.

In presenting this book to the world, I must then explain and justify my position by formulating a definition
of MAGICK and setting forth its main principles in such a way that ALL may understand instantly that
their souls, their lives, in every relation with every other human being and every circumstance, depend
upon MAGICK and the right comprehension and right application thereof.

I. DEFINITION.

MAGICK is the Science and Art of causing Change to occur in conformity with Will.

(Illustration: It is my Will to inform the World of certain facts within my knowledge. I therefore take
"magical weapons", pen, ink, and paper; I write "incantations" --these sentences-- in the "magical
language" i.e. that which is understood by the people I wish to instruct; I call forth "spirits", such as
printers, publishers, booksellers, and so forth, and constrain them to convey my message to those
people. The composition and distribution of this book is thus an act of MAGICK by which I cause
Changes to take place in conformity with my Will.) 1

II. POSTULATE.

ANY required Change may be effected by the application of the proper kind and degree of Force in the
proper manner through the proper medium to the proper object.

(Illustration: I wish to prepare an ounce of Chloride of Gold. I must take the right kind of acid,
nitro-hydrochloric and no other, in sufficient quantity and of adequate strength, and place it, in a vessel
which will not break, leak, or corrode, in such a manner as will not produce undesirable results, with the
necessary quantity of Gold: and so forth. Every Change has its own conditions.

In the present state of our knowledge and power some changes are not possible in practice; we cannot
cause eclipses, for instance, or transform lead into tin, or create men from mushrooms. But it is
theoretically possible to cause in any object any change of which that object is capable by nature; and
the conditions are covered by the above postulate.)

III. THEOREMS.

(1) Every intentional act is a Magical Act. 2

(Illustration: See "Definition" above.)

(2) Every successful act has conformed to the postulate.

(3) Every failure proves that one or more requirements of the postulate have not been fulfilled.

(Illustrations: There may be failure to understand the case; as when a doctor makes a wrong diagnosis,
and his treatment injures his patient. There may be failure to apply the right kind of force, as when a
rustic tries to blow out an electric light. There may be failure to apply the right degree of force, as when a
wrestler has his hold broken. There may be failure to apply the force in the right manner, as when one
presents a cheque at the wrong window of the Bank. There may be failure to employ the correct medium,
as when Leonardo da Vinci found his masterpiece fade away. The force may be applied to an unsuitable
object, as when one tries to crack a stone, thinking it a nut.)

(4) The first requisite for causing any change is thorough qualitative and quantitative
understanding of the conditions.

(Illustration: The most common cause of failure in life is ignorance of one's own True Will, or of the
means by which to fulfil that Will. A man may fancy himself a painter, and waste his life trying to become
one; or he may be really a painter, and yet fail to understand and to measure the difficulties peculiar to
that carrier.)

(5) The second requisite of causing any change is the practical ability to set in right motion the
necessary forces.

(Illustration: A banker may have a perfect grasp of a given situation, yet lack the quality of decision, or
the assets, necessary to take advantage of it.)

(6) "Every man and every woman is a star". That is to say, every human being is intrinsically an
independent individual with his own proper character and proper motion.

(7) Every man and every woman has a course, depending partly on the self, and partly on the
environment which is natural and necessary for each. Anyone who is forced from his own
course, either through not understanding himself, or through external opposition, comes into
conflict with the order of the Universe, and suffers accordingly.

(Illustration: A man may think it his duty to act in a certain way, through having made a fancy picture of
himself, instead of investigating his actual nature. For example, a woman may make herself miserable for
life by thinking that she prefers love to social consideration, or visa versa. One woman may stay with an
unsympathetic husband when she would really be happy in an attic with a lover, while another may fool
herself into a romantic elopement when her only true pleasures are those of presiding at fashionable
functions. Again, a boy's instinct may tell him to go to sea, while his parents insist on his becoming a
doctor. In such a case, he will be both unsuccessful and unhappy in medicine.)

(8) A man whose conscious will is at odds with his True Will is wasting his strength. He cannot
hope to influence his environment efficiently.

(Illustration: When Civil War rages in a nation, it is in no condition to undertake the invasion of other
countries. A man with cancer employs his nourishment alike to his own use and to that of the enemy
which is a part of himself. He soon fails to resist the pressure of his environment. In practical life, a man
who is doing what his conscience tells him to be wrong will do it very clumsily. At first!)

(9) A man who is doing his True Will has the inertia of the Universe to assist him.

(Illustration: The first principle of success in evolution is that the individual should be true to his own
nature, and at the same time adapt himself to his environment.)

(10) Nature is a continuous phenomenon, though we do not know in all cases how things are
connected.

(Illustration: Human consciousness depends on the properties of protoplasm, the existence of which
depends on innumerable physical conditions peculiar to this planet; and this planet is determined by the
mechanical balance of the whole universe of matter. We may then say that our consciousness is
causally connected with the remotest galaxies; yet we do not know even how it arises from--or with--the
molecular changes in the brain.)

(11) Science enables us to take advantage of the continuity of Nature by the empirical
application of certain principles whose interplay involves different orders of idea connected
with each other in a way beyond our present comprehension.

(Illustration: We are able to light cities by rule-of-thumb methods. We do not know what consciousness
is, or how it is connected with muscular action; what electricity is or how it is connected with the
machines that generate it; and our methods depend on calculation involving mathematical ideas which
have no correspondence in the Universe as we know it.) 3

(12) Man is ignorant of the nature of his own being and powers. Even his idea of his limitations
is based on experience of the past, and every step in his progress extends his empire. There is
therefore no reason to assign theoretical limits to what he may be, or to what he may do. 4

(Illustration: A generation ago it was supposed theoretically impossible that man should ever know the
chemical composition of the fixed stars. It is known that our senses are adapted to receive only an
infinitesimal fraction of the possible rates of vibration. Modern instruments have enabled us to detect
some of these suprasensibles by indirect methods, and even to use their peculiar qualities in the service
of man, as in the case of the rays of Hertz and Rontgen. As Tyndall said, man might at any moment
learn to perceive and utilise vibrations of all conceivable and inconceivable kinds. The question of Magick
is a question of discovering and employing hitherto unknown forces in nature. We know that they exist,
and we cannot doubt the possibility of mental or physical instruments capable of bringing us into relation
with them.)

(13) Every man is more or less aware that his individuality comprises several orders of
existence, even when he maintains that his subtler principles are merely symptomatic of the
changes in his gross vehicle. A similar order may be assumed to extend throughout nature.

(Illustration: One does not confuse the pain of toothache with the decay which causes it. Inanimate
objects are sensitive to certain physical forces, such as electrical and thermal conductivity; but neither in
us nor in them--so far as we know--is there any direct conscious perception of these forces.
Imperceptible influences are therefore associated with all material phenomena; and there is no reason
why we should not work upon matter through those subtle energies as we do through their material
bases. In fact, we use magnetic force to move iron, and solar radiation to reproduce images.)

(14) Man is capable of being, and using, anything which he perceives, for everything that he
perceives is in a certain sense a part of his being. He may thus subjugate the whole Universe of
which he is conscious to his individual Will.

(Illustration: Man has used the idea of God to dictate his personal conduct, to obtain power over his
fellows, to excuse his crimes, and for innumerable other purposes, including that of realizing himself as
God. He has used the irrational and unreal conceptions of mathematics to help him in the construction of
mechanical devices. He has used his moral force to influence the actions even of wild animals. He has
employed poetic genius for political purposes.)

(15) Every force in the Universe is capable of being transformed into any other kind of force by
using suitable means. There is thus an inexhaustible supply of any particular kind of force that
we may need.

(Illustration: Heat may be transformed into light and power by sing it to drive dynamos. The vibrations of
the air may be used to kill men by so ordering them in speech as to inflame war-like passions. The
hallucinations connected with the mysterious energies of sex result in the perpetuation of the species.)

(16) The application of any given force affects all the orders of being which exist in the object
to which it is applied, whichever of those orders is directly affected.

(Illustration: If I strike a man with a dagger, his consciousness, not his body only, is affected by my act;
although the dagger, as such, has no direct relation therewith. Similarly, the power of my thought may so
work on the mind of another person as to produce far-reaching physical changes in him, or in others
through him.)

(17) A man may learn to use any force so as to serve any purpose, by taking advantage of the
above theorems.

(Illustration: A man may use a razor to make himself vigilant over his speech, by using it to cut himself
whenever he unguardedly utters a chosen word. He may serve the same purpose by resolving that every
incident of his life shall remind him of a particular thing, making every impression the starting point of a
connected series of thoughts ending in that thing. He might also devote his whole energies to some one
particular object, by resolving to do nothing at variance therewith, and to make every act turn to the
advantage of that object.)

(18) He may attract to himself any force of the Universe by making himself a fit receptacle for it,
establishing a connection with it, and arranging conditions so that its nature compels it to flow
toward him.

(Illustration: If I want pure water to drink, I dig a well in a place where there is underground water; I
prevent it from leaking away; and I arrange to take advantage of water's accordance with the laws of
Hydrostatics to fill it.)

(19) Man's sense of himself as separate from, and opposed to, the Universe is a bar to his
conducting its currents. It insulates him.

(Illustration: A popular leader is most successful when he forgets himself, and remembers only "The
Cause". Self-seeking engenders jealousies and schism. When the organs of the body assert their
presence otherwise than by silent satisfaction, it is a sign that they are diseased. The single exception
is the organ of reproduction. Yet even in this case its self-assertion bears witness to its dissatisfaction
with itself, since it cannot fulfil its function until completed by its counterpart in another organism.)

(20) Man can only attract and employ the forces for which he is really fitted.

(Illustration: You cannot make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. A true man of science learns from every
phenomenon. But Nature is dumb to the hypocrite; for in her there is nothing false.) 5

(21) There is no limit to the extent of the relations of any man with the Universe in essence; for
as soon as man makes himself one with any idea the means of measurement cease to exist.
But his power to utilize that force is limited by his mental power and capacity, and by the
circumstances of his human environment.

(Illustration: When a man falls in love, the whole world becomes, to him, nothing but love boundless and
immanent; but his mystical state is not contagious; his fellow-men are either amused or annoyed. He
can only extend to others the effect which his love has had upon himself by means of his mental and
physical qualities. Thus, Catullus, Dante and Swinburne made their love a mighty mover of mankind by
virtue of their power to put their thoughts on the subject in musical and eloquent language. Again,
Cleopatra and other people in authority moulded the fortunes of many other people by allowing love to
influence their political actions. The Magician, however well he succeed in making contact with the
secret sources of energy in nature, can only use them to the extent permitted by his intellectual and
moral qualities. Mohammed's intercourse with Gabriel was only effective because of his statesmanship,
soldiership, and the sublimity of his command of Arabic. Hertz's discovery of the rays which we now use
for wireless telepathy was sterile until reflected through the minds and wills of people who could take his
truth, and transmit it to the world of action by means of mechanical and economic instruments.)

(22) Every individual is essentially sufficient to himself. But he is unsatisfactory to himself until
he has established himself in his right relation with the Universe.

(Illustration: A microscope, however perfect, is useless in the hands of savages. A poet, however
sublime, must impose himself upon his generation if he is to enjoy (and even understand) himself, as
theoretically should be the case.)

(23) Magick is the Science of understanding oneself and one's conditions. It is the Art of
applying that understanding in action.

(Illustration: A golf club is intended to move a special ball in a special way in special circumstances. A
Niblick should rarely be used on the tee, or a Brassie under the bank of a bunker. But also, the use of
any club demands skill and experience.)

(24) Every man has an indefeasible right to be what he is.

(Illustration: To insist that any one else shall comply with one's own standards is to outrage, not only
him, but oneself, since both parties are equally born of necessity.)

(25) Every man must do Magick each time he acts or even thinks, since a thought is an internal
act whose influence ultimately affects action, though it may not do so at the time.

(Illustration: The least gesture causes in a man's own body and in the air around him; it disturbs the
balance of the entire Universe, and its effects continue eternally throughout all space. Every thought,
however swiftly suppressed, has its effect on the mind. It stands as one of the causes of every
subsequent thought, and tends to influence every subsequent action. A golfer may lose a few yards on
his drive, a few more with his second and third, he may lie on the green six bare inches too far from the
hole; but the net result of these trifling mishaps is the difference of a whole stroke, and so probably
between halving and losing the hole.)

(26) Every man has a right, the right of self-preservation, to fulfil himself to the utmost. 6

(Illustration: A function imperfectly performed injures, not only itself, but everything associated with it. If
the heart is afraid to beat for fear of disturbing the liver, the liver is starved for blood, and avenges itself on
the heart by upsetting digestion, which disorders respiration, on which cardiac welfare depends.)

(27) Every man should make Magick the keynote of his life. He should learn its laws and live by
them.

(Illustration: The Banker should discover the real meaning of his existence, the real motive which led him
to choose that profession. He should understand banking as a necessary factor in the economic
existence of mankind, instead of as merely a business whose objects are independent of the general
welfare. He should learn to distinguish false values from real, and to act not on accidental fluctuations but
on considerations of essential importance. Such a banker will prove himself superior to others; because
he will not be an individual limited by transitory things, but a force of Nature, as impersonal, impartial and
eternal as gravitation, as patient and irresistible as the tides. His system will not be subject to panic, any
more than the law of Inverse Squares is disturbed by Elections. He will not be anxious about his affairs
because they will not be his; and for that reason he will be able to direct them with the calm,
clear-headed confidence of an onlooker, with intelligence unclouded by self-interest and power
unimpaired by passion.)

(28) Every man has a right to fulfil his own will without being afraid that it may interfere with
that of others; for if he is in his proper place, it is the fault of others if they interfere with him.

(Illustration: If a man like Napoleon were actually appointed by destiny to control Europe, he should not
be blamed for exercising his rights. To oppose him would be an error. Any one so doing would have
made a mistake as to his own destiny, except in so far as it might be necessary for him to learn the
lessons of defeat. The sun moves in space without interference. The order of Nature provides an orbit for
each star. A clash proves that one or the other has strayed from its course. But as to each man that
keeps his true course, the more firmly he acts, the less likely are others to get in his way. His example
will help them to find their own paths and pursue them. Every man that becomes a Magician helps others
to do likewise. The more firmly and surely men move, and the more such action is excepted as the
standard of morality, the less will conflict and confusion hamper humanity.)
 
 

I hope that the above principles will demonstrate to ALL that their welfare, their very existence, is bound
up in MAGICK.

I trust that they will understand, not only the reasonableness, but the necessity of the fundamental truth
which I was the means of giving to mankind:

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

I trust that they will assert themselves as individually absolute, that they will grasp the fact that it is their
right to assert themselves, and to accomplish the task for which their nature fits them. Yea, more, that
this is their duty, and that not only to themselves but to others, a duty founded upon universal necessity,
and not to be shirked on account of any casual circumstances of the moment which may seem to put
such contact in the light of inconvenience or even of cruelty.

I hope that the principles outlined above will help them to understand this book, and prevent them from
being deterred from its study by the more or less technical language in which it is written.

The essence of MAGICK is simple enough in all conscience. It is not otherwise with the art of
government. The Aim is simply prosperity; but the theory is tangled, and the practice beset with briars.

In the same way MAGICK is merely to be and to do. I should add: "to suffer". For Magick is the verb; and
it is part of the Training to use the passive voice. This is, however, a matter of Initiation rather than of
Magick in its ordinary sense. It is not my fault if being is baffling, and doing desperate!

Yet, once the above principles are firmly fixed in the mind, it is easy enough to sum up the situation very
shortly. One must find out for oneself, and make sure beyond doubt, WHO one is, WHAT one is, WHY
one is. This done, one may put the Will which is implicit in the "Why" into words, or rather into One
Word. Being thus conscious of the proper course to pursue, the next thing is to understand the
conditions necessary to following it out. After that, one must eliminate from oneself every element alien
or hostile to success, and develop those parts of oneself which are specially needed to control the
aforesaid conditions.

Let us make an analogy. A nation must become aware of its own character before it can be said to exist.
From that knowledge it must divine its destiny. It must then consider the political conditions of the world;
how other countries may help it or hinder it. It must then destroy in itself any elements discordant with
its destiny. Lastly, it must develop in itself those qualities which will enable it to combat successfully the
external conditions which threaten to oppose its purpose. We have had a recent example in the case of
the young German Empire, which, knowing itself and its will, disciplined and trained itself so that it
conquered the neighbors which had oppressed it for so many centuries. But after 1866 and 1870, 1914! It
mistook itself for superhuman, it willed a thing impossible, it failed to eliminate its own internal
jealousies, it failed to understand the conditions of victory, it did not train itself to hold the sea, and thus,
having violated every principle of MAGICK, it was pulled down and broken into pieces by provincialism
and democracy, so that neither individual excellence nor civic virtue has yet availed to raise it again to
that majestic unity which made so bold a bid for the mastery of the race of man. 7

The sincere student will discover, behind the symbolic technicalities of this book, a practical method of
making himself a Magician. The processes described will enable him to discriminate between what he
actually is, and what he has fondly imagined himself to be. 8 He must behold his soul in all its awful
nakedness, he must not fear to look on that appalling actuality. He must discard the gaudy garments
with which shame has screened him; he must accept the fact that nothing can make him anything but
what he is. He may lie to himself, drug himself, hide himself; but he is always there. Magick will teach
him that his mind is playing him a traitor. It is as if a man were told that tailors' fashion-plates were the
canon of human beauty, so that he tried to make himself formless and featureless like them, and
shuddered with horror at the idea of Holbein making a portrait of him. Magick will show him the beauty
and majesty of the self which he has tried to suppress and disguise.

Having discovered his identity, he will soon perceive his purpose. Another process will show him how to
make that purpose pure and powerful. He may then learn how to estimate his environment, learn how to
make allies, how to make himself prevail against all powers whose error has caused them to wander
across his path.

In the course of this Training, he will learn to explore the Hidden-Mysteries of Nature, and to develop new
senses and faculties in himself, whereby he may communicate with, and control, Beings and Forces
pertaining to orders of existence which have been hitherto inaccessible to profane research, and available
only to that unscientific and empirical MAGICK (of tradition) which I came to destroy in order that I might
fulfil. I send this book into the world that every man and woman may take hold of life in the proper
manner. It does not matter if one's present house of flesh be the hut of a shepherd; by virtue of my
MAGICK he shall be such a shepherd as David was. If it be the studio of a sculptor, he shall so chisel
from himself the marble that masks his idea that he shall be no less a master than Rodin.

Witness mine hand:

TO MEGA THERION: The Beast 666; MAGUS 9=2 A.'. A.'. who is The Word of the Aeon THELEMA;
whose name is called V.V.V.V.V. 8=3 A.'. A.'. in the City of the Pyramids; OU MH 7=4; OL SONUF
VAORESAGI 6=5, and ..... ..... 5=6 A.'. A.'. in the Mountain of Abeignus: but FRATER PERDURABO in
the Outer Order or the A.'. A.'. and in the World of men upon the Earth, Aleister Crowley of Trinity
College, Cambridge.

Footnotes:

1. By "intentional" I mean "willed". But even unintentional acts so-seeming are not truly so. Thus,
breathing is an act of the Will-to-Live.

2. In one sense Magick may be defined as the name given to Science by the vulgar.

3. For instance, "irrational", "unreal", and "infinite" expressions.

4. I.e., except--possibly--in the case of logically absurd questions, such as the Schoolmen discussed in
connection with "God".

5. It is no objection that the hypocrite is himself a part of Nature. He is an "endothermic" product, divided
against itself, with a tendency to break up. He will see his own qualities everywhere, and thus obtain a
radical misconception of phenomena. Most religions of the past have failed by expecting Nature to
conform with their ideals of proper conduct.

6. Men of "criminal nature" are simply at issue with their True Wills. The murderer has the Will-to-Live;
and his will to murder is a false will at variance with his true Will, since he risks death at the hands of
Society by obeying his criminal impulse.

7. At least it allowed England to discover its intentions, and so to combine the world against it.

8. Professor Sigmund Freud and his school have, in recent years, discovered a part of this body of Truth,
which has been taught for many centuries in the Sanctuaries of Initiation. But failure to grasp the fullness
of Truth, especially that implied in my Sixth Theorem (above) and its corollaries, has led him and his
followers into the error of admitting that the avowedly suicidal "Censor" is the proper arbiter of conduct.
Official psycho-analysis is therefore committed to upholding a fraud, although the foundation of the
science was the observation of the disastrous effects on the individual of being false to his Unconscious
Self, whose "writing on the wall" in dream language is the record of the sum of the essential tendencies
of the true nature of the individual. The result has been that psycho-analysts have misinterpreted life, and
announced the absurdity that every human being is essentially an anti-social, criminal, and insane
animal. It is evident that the errors of the Unconscious of which the psycho-analysts complain are neither
more nor less than the "original sin" of the theologians whom they despise so heartily.

oooOooo

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

oooOooo

 

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.

One theory holds that each chapter of the Book of the Law is associated with a particular aeon of human
spiritual evolution. According to this view, Chapter One characterizes the Aeon of Isis, when the
archetype of female divinity was paramount. Chapter Two relates to the Aeon of Osiris, when the
archetype of the slain god became prominent, and the world's patriarchal religions became established.
Chapter Three heralds the dawning of a new aeon, the Aeon of Horus, the child of the Isis and Osiris. It is
in this new aeon that the philosophy of Thelema will be fully revealed to humanity, and will become
established as the primary paradigm for the spiritual evolution of the species.

Some of the essential elements of belief in Thelema are:

"Every man and every woman is a star."
     This is usually taken to mean that each individual is unique and has their own path in a spacious
     universe wherein they can move freely without collision.

"Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law." and "thou hast no right but to do thy will."
     Most Thelemites hold that every person possesses a True Will, a single overall motivation for their
     existence. The Law of Thelema mandates that each person follow their True Will to attain
     fulfillment in life and freedom from restriction of their nature. Because no two True Wills can be in
     real conflict (according to "Every man and every woman is a star"), this Law also prohibits one
     from interfering with the True Will of any other person.

     The notion of absolute freedom for an individual to follow his or her True Will is a cherished one
     among Thelemites. This philosophy also recognizes that the main task of an individual setting out
     on the path of Thelema is to first discover his or her True Will, giving methods of self-exploration
     such as magick great importance. Furthermore, every True Will is different, and because each
     person has a unique point-of-view of the universe, no one can determine the True Will for another
     person. Each person must arrive at the discovery for themselves.

"Love is the law, love under will."

     This is an important corollary to the above, indicating that the essential nature of the Law of
     Thelema is that of Love. Each individual unites with his or her True Self in Love, and so
     empowered, the entire universe of conscious beings unites with every other being in Love.

Of course, with the emphasis on freedom and individuality inherent in Thelema, the beliefs of any given
Thelemite are likely to differ from those of any other. In the Comment appended to The Book of the Law it
is stated that: "All questions of the Law are to be decided only by appeal to my writings, each for
himself." Although Thelema is sometimes referred to as a "religion", it accommodates the full range of
individual beliefs, from atheism to polytheism. The important thing is that each person has the right to
fulfill themselves through whatever beliefs and actions are best suited to them (so long as they do not
interfere with the will of others), and only they themselves are qualified to determine what these are.

   Love is the law, love under will