As I showed yesterday, there are three Lords mentioned in Liber XV: the one secret and ineffable Lord of the Creed (aka the Lord secret and most holy of the 2nd Collect), the Sun (the one Star in the Company of Stars of the Creed aka the Lord visible and sensible of the 1st Collect),…
The Lord of the 5th Collect
The Lord of the 5th collect of the Mass is neither the Lord of the first collect (the Sun) nor the Lord of the second collect (the Lord secret and most holy). He can’t be the secret and most holy Lord, because he is manifested. He is “the might of man” and is adored in…
Toward Erotic Liberation in the Mass
Thelema can be looked at as a path of return to nature (Nuit, Babalon, or Isis), from out of death (Osiris), by means of the spirit of erotic destruction (Apophis or the HGA). It’s the IAO formula in reverse. The spirit of erotic destruction takes the form of Baphomet in Liber XV. Baphomet is the…
Erotic destruction and IAO
One of the most interesting parts of Magick in Theory and Practice is chapter 20, “Of The Eucharist and the Art of Alchemy.” This chapter—particularly what Crowley says here about art production—was the subject of a talk I gave last summer for Horizon Lodge in Seattle. In chapter 20 Crowley says that alchemy, initiation, talisman…
On Being Hadit
There are many ethical injunctions of a revolutionary character in the Book [of the Law], but they are all particular cases of the general precept to realize one’s own absolute God-head and to act with the nobility which springs from that knowledge. Practically all vices springs from failure to do this. Aleister Crowley, Confessions But…
The Gnostic Mass as a Religious Rite
When interpreting the Mass, it’s important to keep in mind that it’s a religious rite, and so it’s not possible to capture the main idea behind it simply with categories that apply to magic(k), mysticism, or the mysteries of OTO. This is a slide from my Minerval lecture summarizing Stephen Skinner’s treatment of these categories…
Thelema’s highest good
But to love me is better than all things. Like everything else in Thelema, its highest aim is 2-in-1. It’s doing your will—without lust of result. It should now be perfectly simple for everybody to understand the Message of the Master Therion. Thou must (1) Find out what is thy Will. (2) Do that Will…
More on Thelema vs. Theravada Buddhism
The first noble truth is often glossed as “all is suffering,” but that’s not what the Buddha said. Now this, bhikkhus, is the noble truth of suffering: birth is suffering, aging is suffering, illness is suffering, death is suffering; union with what is displeasing is suffering; separation from what is pleasing is suffering; not to…
Thelema vs. Gnosticism
Gnosticism is the view that the creator God is blind or evil, and that the world we inhabit is therefore a prison we must escape. It’s not just the material world which is bad. The angels or “archons” are jailers attempting to keep us there. The only way out is by making contact with the…
Perception, aesthetics, and initiation
There’s a type of knowledge that takes place just at the level of perception. When you accidentally touch a hot surface, your nervous system computes, cognizes the danger, and makes the decision to recoil your hand before the signal even reaches your brain let alone your higher cognitive centers. Something analogous occurs at the level…