Thelema Tattoo
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Hello, im new to the forum as you can see, I've read biographies on Aleister Crowley, and books on Thelema, and the book of the law... I believe in "Do what thou wilt" a lot. Im in to tattoos, I know theres certain energy/power on some signs/symbols, I just wanted to ask if its ok for someone to tattoo the thelema symbol...
thank you
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@jaror said
"I just wanted to ask if its ok for someone to tattoo the thelema symbol..."
Answer: Yes.
Question: What's "the thelema symbol"?
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the unicursal hexagram I think...
A friend of mine from the OTO has one.
Nice stuff. -
@Techpries said
"the unicursal hexagram I think...
A friend of mine from the OTO has one.
Nice stuff."The problem is, that's no more Thelemic than, say, the Pentagram. Its earliest appearance (known to me) is an old Golden Dawn 4=7 paper.
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what about the with the rose in the center?
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@Techpries said
"what about the with the rose in the center?"
No, that's an artistic stylization Crowley originated. (And which the printer got upside down in The Book of Thoth and nobody has ever fixed in reprint.)
I still don't think of it as particularly Thelemic - just another of many 5=6 symbols - but I see why some people think of it that way.
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They actually recently just had a similar discussion over at lashtal. Personally, I don't see any symbol as being much of a representative of Thelema. The most Thelemic thing you could get is something representative of your own personal HGA. No, it won't scream "I'm a Thelemite!" because people probably won't understand the significance of it. However, I'm of the opinion tattoos should be a personal thing.
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As Jim was talking about earlier, and I mentioned, it predates Crowley, ie he did not create it.
And as I said, personally, I don't feel there's any one symbol that symbolizes Thelema. It's your body though, so you can tattoo Garfield on there if you want
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Perhaps the star field vision would be purely Thelemic, but this vision can not be replicated with ink on flesh, so far as I know.
maybe the Symbol of the OTO is Thelemic in nature, but it to is not Thelema strictly speaking.
Hmm. maybe just the world Thelema in Greek.
I think the difficulty is that Thelema is not a school or a cult or some such thing, it's a principle which is associated with the word Thelema and with various other words and concepts, but really any symbol can be used to express Thelema as a principle.
The Catholic church could accept Thelema whole heartedly, and not have to change a single image, just tweak the use and interpretation a bit.
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@jaror said
"Actually this is the symbol I was thinking about...
www.librarything.com/grouppics/thelema.jpg
Or is there any other that might be interesting..? to tattoo."
It's upside down, btw.
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Maybe you should get a tattoo of a symbol that has meaning for you as you continue your study? To me a very personalized symbol might be most "Thelemic". I myself have an ankh among others and am designing an octagram tattoo. Perhaps as you introspect and learn more about magick you will be drawn to a certain symbol.
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"No, that's an artistic stylization Crowley originated. (And which the printer got upside down in The Book of Thoth and nobody has ever fixed in reprint.)"
Good to know, Jim. This upside down "version" has always struck me as, well, wrong, or inadequate. But one wonders why nobody's ever fixed it â they kept it this way out of ignorance, mischievous second intentions, or just laziness? Go figure!
But I understand some people would find it appealing, since it has that badass vibe to it; I mean, an inverted pentagramic rose has got to be evil & cool, right?
93, 93/93.
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BTW, here is one place where it is correctly oriented: rretac.org
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why is the point up rose correct and point down rose incorrect? I have usually seen it point down..
is it just another reaction to the nox pentagram being "evil" or whatever or is there a specific occult principle used with the unicursal hexagram?
if so, what is the principle behind the "point down rose" in the hexagram as well?
also, wasn't it crowley that came up with the unicursal way of drawing the hexagram? I thought I read somewhere that he came up with it as a method to draw it in the hexagram ritual without lifting the wand/dagger from the symbol..
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@Jonathan said
"why is the point up rose correct and point down rose incorrect? I have usually seen it point down.."
It was first published in The Book of Thoth. When Crowley got his copy from the printer he wrote next to the picture an expletive and that they'd gotten it upside down.
"is it just another reaction to the nox pentagram being "evil" or whatever or is there a specific occult principle used with the unicursal hexagram?"
Crowley, who designed the particular artwork, wrote in his own handwriting that it was upside down. It seems worth knowing that.
"also, wasn't it crowley that came up with the unicursal way of drawing the hexagram? I thought I read somewhere that he came up with it as a method to draw it in the hexagram ritual without lifting the wand/dagger from the symbol.."
No, that's all fiction. It isn't even what he said in the book. Under the illustration on The Book of Thoth it says, "It has always been declared impossible to draw an Unicursal Hexagram; but this has now been accomplished." He seems to have been willing to let the reader think he'd just discovered it - but the "now" in "now been accomplished" dates back to 1888 or soon after, since it is included in an original Golden Dawn 4=7 paper.
As a single hexagram for the ritual, it is used only for the Sun (or, arguably, and in my experience effectively, for the Moon). The other planets are not assigned to its points. The Sun is the top point, the Moon the bottom. Spirit is the center, and the four Elements are deployed around the remaining points as on the Pentagram etc.
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awesome! although i still wonder the differences in energy between the point up and point down rose.. hehe
so, would you not use a unicursal hexagram in the Hexagram ritual if invoking certain planetary energies, but use the tradition Hexagram (Hexagram of Solomon?) being two triangles united when using it for Planetary workings?
When would you use the unicursal? Would you then use it to banish/invoke certain elemental energies and why would you chose to use a hexagram in that context rather than a pentagram?
Thanks for the reply Jim.
~jonathan
