Law of Thelema
(Revision as of 05:27, 20 Oct 2009)
Categories: Αγαπη | θελημα | Thelema | Love | The Law of Liberty
"Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law." (AL I:40)
| Table of contents |
Basics
Though it is a cryptic book, the Book of the Law seems to say clearly enough that this Law "Do what thou wilt" does not mean "Do what you want to do". In Thelema it the Law refers what has been called elsewhere (but not in the Book of the Law itself) the True Will which is thought of as the willful and indeed ecstatic alignment of the will the individual with the grand scheme of the universe. This implies a uniting of the self with the not-self in a dynamic harmony that is - metaphysically speaking - is the same ideal mode of living sought after in Taoism.
Will, Not Whim
Setting aside The Book of the Law, it is made abundantly clear in various writings by Crowley and other Thelemic authors that the Law of Thelema is by no means an advocacy for "doing whatever you want" - as if this would be the inevitable reaction to the lack of moral authority and enforcement in the age where Nietzsche tells us God is dead.
Adherence to the Law of Thelema - "Do what thou wilt" - actually requires a commitment to strict personal integrity, effort and discipline, that of finding and living one's True Will. This can be understood deeper by consulting the section on True Will.
The Word of the Law
"The Word of the Law is θελημα" (AL I:39)
θελημα is one of a number of Greek words that translates into English as the word "will". This exact Greek word (to the exclusion of the other candidates in Greek) seems to have intentionally been given as the Word of the Law in Book of the Law because only this word in Greek numerology or Isopsephy yields a value of 93 which seems highly significant when one considers that Αγαπη - agape, the Greek word for a transcendent love (as opposed to eros, a sexual love) shares the same numeric value. In Isopsephy and indeed in Thelema this indicates that the two ideas θελημα, Thelema and Αγαπη, agape share the same essence or nature.
The Nature of the Law
"Love (http://www.thelemapedia.org/index.php/93) is the law, love under will (http://www.thelemapedia.org/index.php/93)." (AL I:57)
"Herein is an Arcanum concealed, for in the Greek language Αγαπη, love, is of the same numerical value as θελημα, Will. By this we understand that the Universal Will is of the nature of Love." Liber CL De Lege Libellum (http://www.hermetic.com/crowley/libers/lib150.html)
This numerical value in Isopsephy (Greek numerology) is 93.
Also, consider that in Thelema, a magus utters the word of his aeon and as the Logos of the Aeon is the word; in the case of the Master Therion (Aleister Crowley as a Magus) that word is θελημα, Will. (see Liber II : The Message of the Master Therion (http://www.sacred-texts.com/oto/lib2.htm) )
I conjunction, consider Liber I : The Book of the Magus (http://www.sacred-texts.com/oto/lib1.htm) where the Master Therion utters, "And the Magus is Love".
It follows that if the Magus is Thelema (Will) and is the Magus is Agape (Love) then in essence the nature of the Law is Love.
References
- Crowley, Aleister. (1997). The Book of the Law [Liber AL vel Legis]. York Beach, Me. : S. Weiser.
- Crowley, Aleister. (1919). The Law of Liberty [Liber CL לענ De Lege Libellum] in (1991) The Equinox III 10. York Beach, Me. : S. Weiser.
- Crowley, Aleister. Liber I : The Book of the Magus (http://www.sacred-texts.com/oto/lib1.htm)
- Crowley, Aleister. Liber II : The Message of the Mater Therion (http://www.sacred-texts.com/oto/lib2.htm)
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