Agape

(Revision as of 15:42, 27 Sep 2004)

Agape (AH-gah-pay), sometimes rendered as Agapé, is the English transliteration of the Greek word Αγαπη, meaning "love". Specifically, Agape refers to spiritual or "higher" love as opposed to Eros, the "lower" or sexual love.

In the original Greek text, I Corinthians chapter 13 concerns agape. In later Latin Bibles, the translated term was caritas.

Early Christians refered to their rite of common worship as an "Agape feast", which appears to have been characterized by group sexual activity as well as the sharing of the eucharist.

Agape and Thelema

The word Agape is important to Thelemites for numerological reasons. The Book of the Law, Chapter I, verse 39 states that "The word of the Law is Θελημα" (Thelema), which means "Will" in classic Greek. Using the most common form of Greek gematria, Thelema adds up to 93, which is therefore an extremely significant number to Thelemites.

Verse 57 of the same chapter contains the sentence "Love is the law, love under will." This seems to indicate that love and will are to be balanced or equilibrated. As it turns out, though the word does not appear in the book, Agape also enumerates to 93, so it is commonly used as an equivalent Greek term for "love" in the sense appearing in this verse, balancing Thelema.

Aleister Crowley suggested that Thelemites use "Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law" as a greeting, and "Love is the law, love under will" as a farewell. Using the numerology above, it is common to abbreviate both of these to "93", especially in verbal communication. In informal written communication between Thelemites, it is common to see the greeting rendered as "93", and the farewell as "93 93/93", which is shorthand for "Love (the left 93) is the law, love (the denominator) under will (the numerator)".

Agape and the OTO

The word "Agape" has played several roles in the history of Ordo Templi Orientis. The first chartered local body in North America was Agape Lodge #1 in Vancouver, Canada; the second was Agape Lodge #2 in Los Angeles (later Pasadena), California.

When US Grand Lodge OTO began to operate as a separate entity from OTO International, it was known for a time as "Agape Grand Lodge", though this usage never received official sanction. This name has since been dropped in favor of the simpler "United States Grand Lodge", but survives in the name of the US Grand Lodge periodical Agapé.