Thelemic Tephilah
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Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.
Bhakti Yoga, in its higher forms, is a continuous recollection of Deity-as-Love, and a continuing participation in that Love. It is, at root, identical with the d’vequth (“adherence, intense devotion”) of the Chassidim.
Both bhakti and d'vequth have outer and inner aspects of worship. Ritualistic forms serve initially to establish the conscious awareness of this relationship with the root of all love and, later, to serve as a stimulus to its continuing recollection; but the essence of the higher practice is simply the continuing awareness of, and abiding within, the interminable Love itself. As it is written in Liber Legis: “A feast every day in your hearts in the joy of my rapture! A feast every night unto Nu, and the pleasure of uttermost delight!”
The davaqah regards this intimate relationship as being with “God.” The bhakti regards it as being with Ishvara. We say it is with the Holy Guardian Angel. All of this is the same, but for the words; and we are counseled best to remember those words with which the feet of the Probationer of A.'.A.'. are first set firmly upon the Straight Path: “Should therefore the candidate hear the name of any God, let him not rashly assume that it refers to any known God, save only the God known to himself.”
One of the most successful approaches to this state of bhakti is the Jewish tradition of daily reading in the Sepher ha-Torah, regarding the whole of the Chamsha (lit., “group of five”) as a wheel, or cycle, that one completes in the course of each year. For many years, I contemplated an adaptation of this concept; for we, in Thelema, have our own Sepher ha-Torah, or “Book of the Law;” and our tradition has, as well, long recognized the Torah as a Rota (“wheel”) - whence our word Taro. I established a personal foundation for this some years ago in identifying sacred readings and meditations for each of the 22 days of the Thelemic High Holy Season (March 20-April 10 of each year), originally shared only with Second Order members of Temple of Thelema, and later (Anno XCIV) published in Black Pearl.
On the 12th and 13th days of October, Anno XCIV (1998 E.V.), my mind returned more pointedly to the deeper concept, and I found myself receiving a more complete model, and then working out its details. Of great interest to me is that these two days coincide, that year, with Simchas Torah, the annual festival of the Torah that inaugurates the Jewish annual cycle of readings. Though the Thelemic cycle commences nearly six months from now, at the Vernal Equinox, I have decided to follow these promptings and let the teaching have its birth on its own schedule.
Until a better term comes along, the traditional term tephilah is recommended to describe this cycle of daily practices, in its particular sense of a psalm, or song upraised in adoration.
A breakdown of the pattern selected can be found here: aumha.org/arcana.htm
I have packaged this entire system in a Microsoft Word 2000 document here: aumha.org/downloads/tephw2k.zi - It is formatted to produce a set of cards, one for each day of the year, including the exact quotes with which one will be working. Specifically, it is formatted for Avery No. 8387 cards. These are 5.5" x 4.25" cards, four per sheet. You will need just under 400 cards (100 sheets). Alternately, you can print this on ordinary paper and use it as is, or cut the pages into quarters.
If you want the Excel spreadsheet containing the data from which this was built using Word’s mailmerge function, you can download it here: aumha.org/downloads/tephxls.zi
Love is the law, love under will.
Yaakov Dov bar-Aeshel
13 October, 1998 E.V. (Anno XCIV) -
"Until a better term comes along, the traditional term tephilah is recommended to describe this cycle of daily practices, in its particular sense of a psalm, or song upraised in adoration.
A breakdown of the pattern selected can be found here: aumha.org/arcana.htm "
I wonder how many thelemites take advantage of this excellent tool?!
I personally have been using it for years and with excellent, if not profound results. Thanks you for assembling this tool of remembrance
and devotion, Jim. -
93 King of Wolves,
"Quote King of Wolves: I wonder how many thelemites take advantage of this excellent tool?! "
I have followed the Thelemic holy season since April of this year with the Atus. But, I haven’t worked with the other material yet. I have found that just working with the tarot is enough for me now.
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"I have followed the Thelemic holy season since April of this year with the Atus. But, I haven’t worked with the other material yet. I have found that just working with the tarot is enough for me now."
Fair enough.
But, if you ever feel inspired to incorporate the use of the Atus coupled with the writing of the Holy Books of Thelema, I believe this tool is exceptional.
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Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law
this looks kind of neat, but what's the theory behind the positioning of the books, verses from the books, periods of silence and so on?
Love is the law, love under will
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93!
"this looks kind of neat, but what's the theory behind the positioning of the books, verses from the books, periods of silence and so on? "
Actually, it's very neat. [grin and smile]
As to the cycle of the reading, I will enclose the link to webpage instead of pasting it all in here. Enjoy!
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93!
"this looks kind of neat, but what's the theory behind the positioning of the books, verses from the books, periods of silence and so on? "
Actually, it's very neat. [grin and smile]
As to the cycle of the reading, I will enclose the link to webpage instead of pasting it all in here. Enjoy!
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@luxinhominefactum said
"Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law
this looks kind of neat, but what's the theory behind the positioning of the books, verses from the books, periods of silence and so on?
Love is the law, love under will"
No particular theory. Just a matter of convenience and workability to create a particular rhythm that takes on a life of its own. The divisions are according to convenience.
There's a particular pattern that can be observed on inspection. The progress up the Tree is broadly work of the elements, then work of the planets, then the Supernals - which corresponds well to LXV, VII, and CCXX, in that order. Coincidentally (?) the sequence in which chapters of these books are memorized in formal A.'.A.'. work of 0=0, 1=10, and 2=9 is also LXV, VII, CCXX. So the pattern of the year is the 22-day working of the Holy Season followed by working through the three books in that sequence.
Since the 22-day Holy Season ends on April 10, the LXV pattern begins the next day, and it's cool to start on day 11 of the month - so, for most of the pattern, this is what's done. Each chapter of LXV is given one month (working through the elements one per month), with a day of silence between on the 10th. Then Liber VII is moved through quickly, one chapter per week (a 7 x 7 pattern). Then CCXX in the chapter-per-month sequence... except, to get back to the 11th of the month to begin there is a gap that conveniently corresponds to the Abyss between the planet series and the Supernal series. This leaves 37 (or, in leap years, 38) days of silence at the end.
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Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law
very curious indeed, and interesting. i may incorporate this into my work.
Love is the law, love under will
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I never noticed this before. I'm glad lux posted here to bring it back up to the top. Thanks for creating this, Jim. I'm going to use it
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@kuniggety said
"I never noticed this before. I'm glad lux posted here to bring it back up to the top. Thanks for creating this, Jim. I'm going to use it
"no kidding! this is great! - though I do have one question: why is March 21 equipped only with one reading for Shin when it, like Tav, has dual attributions?
616
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@KRVB MMShCh said
"I do have one question: why is March 21 equipped only with one reading for Shin when it, like Tav, has dual attributions?"
I wanted to save the Spirit chapter of Liber LXV for a different path.
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Most techniques are intended to bring someone toward the ideal. Smaller steps...
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@-iblis- said
"Smaller steps are indeed what some people believe they need..."
For me, it's not so much a belief as an understanding of a method that works for me. If I could in an instant dash open the doors of perception or reach the "end" by kicking down the walls of the maze, or teleport to the city of the pyramids, or in the snap of a finger and a slap on the back of my head become a master of the martial arts, it would be done. I've tried it. And I've convinced myself in the past that I've accomplished it. But invariably, every time I think I've done the impossible and think I've discovered the secret of secrets, I realize that in truth, I've just smoked a lot of pot, and I'm just wishing I could get the results without having to do the work.
But the results are the work. There is no journey without a whole lot of walking (steps).
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I set up a Google calendar with all the information from the Thelemic Tephilah. I don't use Google's calendar directly because I don't like how data is displayed/formatted once you click on an event but many applications can pull the data directly from it and display it differently. For any one interested here are the links:
Google Calendar ID: <!-- e --><a href="mailto:36j9m9v0ociglvtvu09dv86lto@group.calendar.google.com">36j9m9v0ociglvtvu09dv86lto@group.calendar.google.com</a><!-- e -->
XML: www.google.com/calendar/feeds/36j9m9v0ociglvtvu09dv86lto%40group.calendar.google.com/public/basic
ICAL: www.google.com/calendar/ical/36j9m9v0ociglvtvu09dv86lto%40group.calendar.google.com/public/basic.ic
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Rather late but I just added the XML feed to my browser. Thanks for to Jim, again, for putting this together and thanks to skytoucher for taking the time to set this up in XML format.