Unto NUIT
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Hi all,
My question revolves around this passage of Liber L and how it relates to sacrifice and consecration of our acts.
"Be goodly therefore: dress ye all in fine apparel; eat rich foods and drink sweet wines and wines that foam! Also, take your fill and will of love as ye will, when, where and with whom ye will! But always unto me."
We can "indulge" in these things as long as we do them "unto Nuit," meaning (in my understanding) that we consecrate the action to her and make it holy. It therefore takes on a spiritual dimention rather than just a material one.
Since the actions written all appear to be good or pleasant things, can we do the same with suffering? If we have an intense pain, disease, or problem, can we do it unto Nuit and consecrate that suffering as well?
93 93/93
David H -
To the last question - yes, of course, provided that you're willing to experience them rather than resist them. (The dedication is in your co-experience of these with Nuit.)
Go to <!-- w --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.thelema.org/publications">www.thelema.org/publications</a><!-- w --> and grab a free copy of The Ethics of Thelema. The first article goes into this dedication quite deeply.
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Nuit is ever expansion to new things, thus if you say shoot up heroin for the sake of getting high and shooting up heroin, them you get addicted, you become obsessed with the drug, even when it's not new Anymore, and your fixation on that obsession will prevent further growth and experiences.
But if you focus your experience of the drug on Nuit, on the process of experiencing the new and growing to encompass it and move on to more, then you are less likely to get hung up on the drug for the drug sake.
Of course heroin if very addicting and so it would not be wise to experiment with, under most situations, unless you had an iron will to withstand sever pain and craving, or you are very old or sick, such that the drug may relive pain and allow you the ability to experience more life.
Since almost all people would have a high risk of drug addiction becoming a restriction, rather than a liberation, it is il advised.
The same can be said of finery and jewels and rich foods, if you are obsessed with them your greed becomes a vice,
But if your aim is ever onward to something greater, you are not bogged down in such muck and can tale it or leave it without spiritual harm. -
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@kerlem93 said
"What practical steps should be taken, if any, to consecrate our experiences on a daily, or case by case basis? Is there a ritual, for example, that should be done in the morning to dedicate all of the coming experiences of the day unto Nuit?"
@Jim Eshelman said
"Go to <!-- w --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.thelema.org/publications">www.thelema.org/publications</a><!-- w --> and grab a free copy of The Ethics of Thelema. The first article goes into this dedication quite deeply."
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I had just read that before I posted my question, but I didn't see anything in it about a ritual to perform on a daily basis, or before experiencing a particular act that one would wish to specifically dedicate unto Nuit. I guess there isn't any set standard method of consecrating all of the experiences that one will experience in the coming day by doing a morning ritual, or of consecrating a specific experience that one would want to dedicate unto Nuit? If there is, and it's in there, then I must have missed it again when I skimmed back over it.
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@kerlem93 said
"I had just read that before I posted my question, but I didn't see anything in it about a ritual to perform on a daily basis, or before experiencing a particular act that one would wish to specifically dedicate unto Nuit."
Generally not a ritual, no. It's a matter of how you orient yourself and experience the event in present time. Awareness is free, take all you want
Mindfulness during experience seems the key component."I guess there isn't any set standard method of consecrating all of the experiences that one will experience in the coming day by doing a morning ritual, or of consecrating a specific experience that one would want to dedicate unto Nuit? "
Certainly not a standard. You could, of course, write one yourself. But a "get it over with once each morning" doesn't replace mindfulness of Nuit in the course of each experience.
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Actually there is a simple ritual, sort of a dialectic with oneself, or with others which is generally used to dedicate and consecrate ones main meal of the day unto Nuit, AKA the Great work. And that is Saying Will, which is actually appropriate for use to any experience, and for use before any action as a test for if your reason for performing that action is that it is a necessary step in your true will, or if it is a frivolous action that distracts form the true will.
An example of the dialectic of saying Will used in a non-dining situation can be found in Diary of a Drug Fiend.
As far as the Ethics of Thelema, I much prefer the essay on it by Ewin Hessle, but Christie Sowers also wrote some excellent essays on the topic, and IAO131 Is not too bad.
But I would try to avoid any Ethics of thelema that appeal to "You do your thing, I'll do mine, and everyone must respect everyone else's Will" If you are both doing your Will, you tend to not conflict without tying to avoid it, if you have to actively change your own course or pull back from your action to avoid harming others, one of you is out of line. There is no and it harm none in thelema, is some so much as criticizes your clothing, you have a "Right" to kill them, as per liber OZ.
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The reference was to the specific publication The Ethics of Thelema available as a free digital download from College of Thelema at <!-- w --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.thelema.org/publications">www.thelema.org/publications</a><!-- w --> - I'll let the documents collated therein speak for themselves.