Lisa_R
-
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.
"I honestly discovered Thelema about 2 days ago and have been reading and reading ever since. I agree with everything and I can feel a change in how I think already and how I feel."
Two days? That is... cool.
"When I told him about Thelema he didn't really catch on at first but he finally got it today and is totally on board with me talking about it and telling him what I learn which makes it easy for me lol Anyways I decided to post."
Really nice.
"But I do want some help. I've been reading and reading but I don't know where to start when it comes to practicing it in my daily life and what I should do."
It would help if you said what exactly you're reading.
"I am afraid to try to do anything that may push me in the wrong direction. I have read about the Black Brothers and I can say it does make me uneasy and I guess its because I don't understand but what if i mess up?"
Black Brotherhood is something way, way ahead on the Path and you don't have to worry about it, just understand it. (I've never heard of a Black Sister, BTW.)
"Am I thinking wrongly about this? I'm just afraid to hurt my path by jumping into things too soon or doing something I shouldn't."
Not wrongly, but perhaps concerned a bit too much. You don't have to jump into stuff, take your time. When something is "big", you'll know it.
"Can I go the wrong way before I have seen my guardian angel?"
Yes, but if you're seeking It, you can always get back on track.
"I would like to try the yoga side to it as well but i don't know what i should do."
By all means, do so.
See Liber E vel Exercitiorvm."oh! also it says that at the end of the book of law that i shouldn't read it again. Can I? I've taken this very seriously haven't looked at it again."
An important aspect of Thelema is that there's no dogma. Don't worry about it. Read the Book as much as you want. (I particularly consider that Comment largely invalid. And it's not part of the Book of the Law.)
"Also I'm having a hard time figuring out the numerology and the Qabalah. I have a copy of 777 and was wondering is this what I need to read about Qabalah or is there more? Will this help me to understand the Qabalah? "
777 has correspondences, but mostly it doesn't explain things. Look up the Tree of Life and gradually increase your knowledge of it.
Also, welcome!
Love is the law, love under will.
-
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.
Thank you so much for your response.
As to what I've been reading... everything I can find. Right now I'm reading Magick Without Tears. I've been reading so much that at first it was boggling but now it's kinda just seeping in.
And I know two days isn't long but I have been constantly reading stuff from the moment i open my eyes till i fall asleep and just absorbing the information. this is day number 3. I read fast and I am smart so to tell you exactly what I've read I'd have to check my history on the computer lol
I did look up Liber E vel Exercitiorvm earlier today but haven't finished Magick without Tears yet. I also found 8 Lectures on Yoga and will read that as well.I also read further into the Black Brothers and I am not afraid of that anymore. I feel that I am in a good place and won't lead myself astray. I had a moment about 20 minutes ago which made my uneasiness go away. Your comment was also helpful with easing my mind of that.
I'm going to start up a magick diary as I feel this will be a good place to start for me.
I am going to study the tree of life more as well.
Thank you.Love is the law, love under will.
-
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.
"As to what I've been reading... everything I can find. Right now I'm reading Magick Without Tears. I've been reading so much that at first it was boggling but now it's kinda just seeping in."
MWT is quite advanced. Understanding most of it depends on one already having a good intellectual background on, well, pretty much everything related to Magick.
"And I know two days isn't long but I have been constantly reading stuff from the moment i open my eyes till i fall asleep and just absorbing the information. this is day number 3. I read fast and I am smart so to tell you exactly what I've read I'd have to check my history on the computer lol"
Are you reading all or most of Crowley's Libri? Those give information on what to practice.
"I did look up Liber E vel Exercitiorvm earlier today but haven't finished Magick without Tears yet. I also found 8 Lectures on Yoga and will read that as well."
Yes, read Eight Lectures. Also, read The Heart of the Master (if you can swallow MWT...) and Little Essays Towards Truth.
"I also read further into the Black Brothers and I am not afraid of that anymore. I feel that I am in a good place and won't lead myself astray. I had a moment about 20 minutes ago which made my uneasiness go away. Your comment was also helpful with easing my mind of that."
You'll develop a better understanding of the Black Brotherhood doctrine with time and any doubts will tend to disappear.
"I'm going to start up a magick diary as I feel this will be a good place to start for me.
I am going to study the tree of life more as well."Absolutely, you do that. You have just the right ideas.
Love is the law, love under will.
-
I consider MWT to be one of the most accessible of Crowley's works, and one of the best places for a newby to start.
-
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.
Hmm, guess I just have (or had?) a different way of looking at it. Mostly because many of the letters talk about stuff a newby would never have heard about before which even when explained wouldn't mean much to them. I honestly think if I had started with it I'd be quite confused.
Love is the law, love under will.
-
The great thing about a book with so many topics in short sections is that someone can read through, get what they get, and move on, focussing where they are interested etc. Anthology works are the same sort of thing - you don't have to master the whole book to master many parts of it.
What's most remarkable about MWT, though, is how clearly Crowley wrote. Never before had he ever been so clear, reaching to make contact with people who knew very little. Even in 8 Lectures he was mostly an entertainer, the brilliant content being veiled in a sarcastic public speech.
-
If you would like to start our practicing, my suggestion is Liber Resh.
It is simple to perform, does not take much time (about 4 mins total throughout the day, with the option to put more into it), provides numerous benefits perhaps the most important (at this moment)is it will get you familar with many aspects of magick while connecting you more firmly with the Thelemic current. -
Towards Patrick I speak thus: This room may be a trap devised by Satan, but if so it is only so that it concentrates what is Satan's, and thus would Satan do ill to Satan, when He must love himself above all else to actually be Satan by definition, a Resistor against all that is not Satan. So yest one must go ahead quite dauntlessly for I have it on exceptionally dubious authority that God had designed Satan for the express purpose of concentrating those aspects of creation which God's personality needed to be seaparated in the Tzim-Tzum, and as such also individuates the Satanic individual connected as it to the outer world (both the visible and the invisible). God's own relief effort for the Satanic species of angel? Very likely, and even if a lie, one that will in these conditions make itself true, if for nothing else that the very glorious quality of vanity which in itself makes possilble the reasoning sublime for Satan to speak for himself, through me, a dweller in this room, whom R.L. Stine tried to appropriate for his own ends (separate issue purely connected to "The Nightmare Room" series which superceded "Goosebumps" and displayed on DirectTV's Chiller Channel- My thanks to Rev. 111 DMS),
To Lisa_R, are you an R-Type? Did you ever play a Sega system? Perhaps a Sega Saturn, or at least being in a random room with one? If you buy one my influence will guide you in the patterning of a life intimately connected with Saturn, and purely by osmotic action, you can refuse every idea if it doesn't suit you or use any that makes itself known to you in a fashion which proves true to your sensibility.
That aside I reccommend the book, rather inexpensively acquired at commonplace prices, "The Complete Curriculum of the G.'.B.'.G.'., which had been a popular West Coast mail-order magickal course. The rituals are amazingly brief, and hehe, correspond to a great deal of Crowley's system albeit in a remarkably spartan fashion. I like the fact that it pushes, very early on, group workings with individuals who don't even have to particularly interested in magick in any way (actors at community colleges are good for the game, as well as taking acting course themselves can enhance ritual in amazing ways). It dwells deeply on the subjective powers of the subconsciousness, and has an intense series of glossaries which can familiarize you with Thelemic terms.
It's like one of those cheat sheets, and I believe, quite truly, in adept Satanic fashion, that you do not cheat yourself when you treat yourself with a healthy dose of slack in the form of work you like.
Ave Thelema!
-
thanks everyone. I'm sure I'll manage to figure it all out.
I did find that some things in Majcik Without Tears was a bit hard to understand so I just narrowed down what I couldn't get and started reading some other things.
There's so much information and I just love it all. -
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.
Thanks, Zazazas. Since I'll be changing my signature I'll leave it here so people know what you were referring to: "This room is an illusion and is a trap devised by Satan. Go ahead dauntlessly! Make rapid progress!"
Love is the law, love under will.