How do you become a Thelemite?
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What are the steps? Any ideas? Books? Websites? Organisations? Thanks for your help.
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You accept the Law of Will.
Read the Book of the Law and then go from there.
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Thanks, after i read that, is there normally a next step to go through?.. i have listened to an audio book of it a few times. I hate reading haha
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If you hate reading, you're in trouble
because I usually recommend a whole lot of thick books and lose yourself from the rest of the world for a couple of years of immersion.(I'm mostly joking <vbg>.)
More practically... one doesn't "become" a Thelemite the way one, say, converts to Christianity or Islam or Judaism. For one thing, there is no standard definition of what a "Thelemite" is, though the broadest concensus is that it has to do with a state of being or orientation of life philosophy (for example), more than anything else.
Nor is "becoming a Thelemite" about doing particular practices. For example, most Thelemites are interested in ceremonial magick, but being interested in ceremonial magick isn't a requirement. We have to allow broad room for "secular Thelemites" who are just interested in the philosophy's application to their life, society, etc.; as well as many other "flavors."
I would say (today)... learn what the Thelemic philosophy is, and see if it can comfortably serve as the context of everything else in your life. That is, see if it isn't already (or, could be with small adjustments) the framework within which you see everything else in your life moving.
After spending some time with The Book of the Law, I suggest you get a collection of essays we distribute for free online, called The Ethics of Thelema. You can find it (and many other publications) here: www.thelema.org/publication - That will give you much to ponder.
Consider also whether you asked the question you meant to ask. You posted this in the Initiation forum, not the Thelema forum - were you, perhaps, actually asking about initiation? Was there a different question you intended than the one in your subject line? (Consider that your first practical instruction in Thelema: Get clear on what you want! <s>)
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@StrangeJames said
"i have listened to an audio book of it a few times."
Do you know where to find an audio recording of the Book of the Law that doesn't have background music?
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@gmugmble said
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Do you know where to find an audio recording of the Book of the Law that doesn't have background music?"You can convert it to MP3 after download:
youtu.be/P_F2z_fCS7oI listen to it in my car, on my iPod etc... it is great.
Good luck.
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Do what thou wilt
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@gmugmble said
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@StrangeJames said
"i have listened to an audio book of it a few times."Do you know where to find an audio recording of the Book of the Law that doesn't have background music?"
I've been known to take my text copy of it and play it through the speech system of my Kindle.
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Everyone who accepts the Law of Thelema: "Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law/Love is the law, love under Will" is a Thelemite. To be one you just have to accept that this is the fundamental formula of truth in this age.
Beyond that, accepting the validity of the Book of the Law.
I don't think anything else is actually needed to be a Thelemite. Most of the other stuff people associate with "being" a Thelemite (reading all of Crowley's books, practicing ritual magick, joining a magical order, doing divination with the Thoth deck, liking Led Zeppelin on some kind of religious principle, "freaking the mundanes", etc.) is not actually about being a Thelemite per se but about other things (being a magician, seeking personal transformation, following "Crowleyanity", acting counter-cultural to shock or impress people, etc).
93!
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@Swamiji said
"Everyone who accepts the Law of Thelema: "Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law/Love is the law, love under Will" is a Thelemite. To be one you just have to accept that this is the fundamental formula of truth in this age."
Ehm, if I may, I'd add here that realization of one's Will is needed, not mere embracing the "I can do whatever I want" notion.
@Swamiji said
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(reading all of Crowley's books, practicing ritual magick, joining a magical order, doing divination with the Thoth deck, liking Led Zeppelin on some kind of religious principle, "freaking the mundanes", etc.) is not actually about being a Thelemite per se but about other things (being a magician, seeking personal transformation, following "Crowleyanity", acting counter-cultural to shock or impress people, etc)."
Well said.
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Thanks guys, that's helped. I'm interested in doing magick so i guess the next step for me would be to find thelemic books and local people in my area who are into it. Joining something like the A. A appeals to me to.
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@Jim Eshelman said
"I've been known to take my text copy of it and play it through the speech system of my Kindle."
That would create some interesting emphasis patterns, I would think... (thinking about trying it myself now...)
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It would do no wrong to call us such, but why bother?
Do your Will and nothing less and the rest will fall into place. -
@Frater INRI said
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@Swamiji said
"Everyone who accepts the Law of Thelema: "Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law/Love is the law, love under Will" is a Thelemite. To be one you just have to accept that this is the fundamental formula of truth in this age."Ehm, if I may, I'd add here that realization of one's Will is needed, not mere embracing the "I can do whatever I want" notion."
Absolutely. I thought that was implicit, but you're probably right that it ought to be stated explicitly, perhaps even here.
93!
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@Swamiji said
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@Frater INRI said
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@Swamiji said
"Everyone who accepts the Law of Thelema: "Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law/Love is the law, love under Will" is a Thelemite. To be one you just have to accept that this is the fundamental formula of truth in this age."Ehm, if I may, I'd add here that realization of one's Will is needed, not mere embracing the "I can do whatever I want" notion."
Absolutely. I thought that was implicit, but you're probably right that it ought to be stated explicitly, perhaps even here.
93!"
Not trying to split hairs here, but Will and will usually imply very different concepts. "Love is the law, love under will" -- the will is left uncapitalized.
If you'll notice, Jim has capitalized 'Love and Will' in his tag line. Which is ANOTHER POV -- or perhaps, a more INTEGRATED concept.
Also, I think one can be a Thelemite regardless of realizing their will/Will. Realizing one's Will is something that can be hardly encompassed fully in the intellectual realm. As a Probationer, I did not know (or Know) love OR will...or their relationship...but there was commitment to the Work and an Oath...
**I definitely agree **that it's not "do what you want to do". It's funny -- Do what thou wilt usually causes examination of what "Do" means, what "thou" means, and what "will" means...
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I don't know if this will be helpful at all, but I thought I might share just one aspect of what becoming a Thelemite has meant for me. I had first encountered Thelema in the context of studying magic, and then maybe 14 or 15 months ago I began to study it as a philosophy for living. I realized that in a certain sense I had been a Thelemite long before I had ever heard that word; but I also realized that many aspects of my life were not being lived in accordance with those beliefs. A huge part of my work since that time has been examining and overhauling my beliefs, my relationships, how I spend me time, how I treat other people, etc. in order to all the time bring more and more of my existence in line with the Law. In other words, identifying as a Thelemite and trying my damndest to live as one has been a process of uncovering deep parts of myself and then expressing and living them. While I would not yet claim to know my True Will, I feel that this work brings me closer and closer to it all the time.
Conversely (and also on the subject of doing your will and not simply what you want, while getting away from standard examples which usually seem to revolve around whether or not it's okay to hurt other people), I find it increasingly difficult all the time to put off my daily study and practices in favor of say, having a few glasses of wine and watching a movie after work--which is precisely what I tried to do last night, but within ten minutes I had shut off the laptop, robed and made my way into the Temple!
Being a Thelemite is also becoming a deeply religious commitment for me, but I don't really want to get into that...
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@Frater Potater said
"Not to be a stick in the mud, but when I read the responses that said "you just accept the law", it kind of reminded me of the whole christian "you just accept jesus as your savior" dogma."
You are the only one so far to type "just accept the law." I typed "You accept the Law of Will." That's a lot more than passively just accepting that someone is correct.
In fact, you know you are "become a Thelemite" when you start doing. "Be" and "come" together are qualities of Nuit and Hadit.
You are. There's no question about that. Descartes proved it to you. Going, that's what only you can prove. You don't ask anyone's permission when your a Thelemite, you simply do. You don't need a reward when you are a Thelemite, you simply are.
I guess that is Just.
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@Frater Potater said
"Not to be a stick in the mud, but when I read the responses that said "you just accept the law", it kind of reminded me of the whole christian "you just accept jesus as your savior" dogma. "
And what's the problem? Those statements are really more like zero-level criteria than dogma. It's difficult to see how you could call yourself a Christian (without seriously pushing the boundaries of that term) without accepting Christ as your savior; likewise, how can you be a Thelemite without accepting the Law of Thelema? Would you call a statement like "to be a Rolling Stones fan you have to like The Rolling Stones" dogmatic?
None of this is to say that Thelema doesn't have dogma.
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I think the issue is wrapped up in one of the things I said early on: There is no standardized definition. Part of there being no standardized definition is that people draw the threshold (the "line in the sand").
The definition, "Just accept the Law of Thelema" (or some similar variation) is, perhaps, the most basic but, in some people's minds it is so minimal as to be offensive.
Soror Meral often asserted to me that she didn't see how one could be a Thelemite if they hadn't already attained to the Knowledge & Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel. After initially being very admiring and in awe of that definition, I came to think of it as too extreme. I do admire that she was putting it in terms of actual attainment, or the active state of one's being, rather than in terms of adopting a label or philosophical adherance (immediately separating it from any other -ism I could think of). I also understood that this was Phyllis being offended for, and protective of, Thelema overall because of her deep disgust for "most people who go around calling themselves Thelemites." She was particularly eager to have no reason for anyone to equate "real Thelemites" with the Thelemic masses to whom she was most exposed outside her immediate circle of students. - I, on the other hand, thought we already had a perfectly good word for those who met her definition, viz., Adept - or, in Thelemic terms, Lover.
So... my main point isn't to enforce a particular definition. I usually avoid pinning it down. It seems more ecumenical that way <g>. Personally, I usually would lean toward a definition much narrower than "just accept the Law" (or even "just accept The Book of the Law") because I'd like to divorce it from "adherants" and "philosphical adoption," and think of it more as referring to the innate nature of a person and their soul's oreintation. But (to repeat), I'm not pushing any definition at all here.
I'd personally prefer to go down the road of "'Thelemite' is not something you call yourself, but something it's OK for others to label you with." But that does put the dampers on the growth of a movement, so I tend to get out of the way of those who want to empower others to call themselves Thelemites.
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@Iamus said
"None of this is to say that Thelema doesn't have dogma."
Dogma (by the dictionary definition) is by no means a necessary component of Thelema. See Jim's post immediately above for an example.
