If you are interested in learning about Thelema, where do you start? Aleister Crowley wrote prodigiously and his works can fill an entire bookshelf. Is there one book that can fill you in on the basic ideas? Here are three books to choose from to get you started on your reading and practice. Read more
Does the West exist? It is, is it useful, accurate, and inclusive to speak of magic as having Western and Eastern branches? Read more
If you attend any meeting of Thelemites someone is likely to say “Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law,” which is always answered by “Love is the law, love under will.” What does that mean? Read more
Did you know that we actually have a recording of Crowley’s physical voice? Read more
Happy anniversary Patheos! Read more
The fifth issue of Abraxas: International Journal of Esoteric Studies contains treasures. Its luscious pages encourage the reader to turn slowly, savoring each new discovery. Read more
I am a Thelemite. I am also a Golden Dawn initiate. I see these as complementary rather than competitive, and I'm in good company! Read more
Who was Aleister Crowley? He's been called a genius and the wickedest man in the world. Since he died in 1947, more than half a century ago, few if any are alive who actually knew him. Fortunately those who did know him left many documents, and he left a wide variety of writing himself, including volumes of his magical diaries, all rich materials for biographies. Read more
Reading Chapter III in public is a challenge. Crowley himself says in the comment “The third chapter of the Book is difficult to understand, and may be very repugnant to many people born before the date of the book (April, 1904).” He could have just stopped with “repugnant to many people.” Imagine that your very first exposure to Thelema was line 12, “Sacrifice cattle, little and big: after a child.” Wait, what? We’re just being metaphorical here, right? Read more
Thelemites are a people of the book: The Book of the Law. It is not secret but published in many languages. Unlike the Bible it is not interpreted by priests. In fact the book explicitly discourages explanations and interpretations. "The Comment" at the end of the book reads, "All questions of the Law are to be decided only by appeal to my writings, each for himself." No one gets to tell me what the book means to me. Read more
Star and Snake
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