Thelema and the twelve steps.
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I am not 100% sure if this should go in this board or not but I have a rather nagging question. I have a friend and this friend is in a twelve step program. Now this program is spiritual not religious. Is there anyone that has found success in working a twelve step program and a system of magick specifically Thelema? Also with said friend’s very limited understanding of Thelema the phrase “turn your will over to the care of a god of your understanding” has left this person a little confused. I’m not here to espouse one fellowship over another or cause a flame war like I’ve seen in other threads concerning this topic. This is just some confusion on my friend’s part that someone may have some guidance on. In the spirit of anonymity please try and keep the actual names of said programs to a minimum and if someone feels better about PMing or emailing me please feel free. Thank you for reading!
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@Veganforseitan said
"Is there anyone that has found success in working a twelve step program and a system of magick specifically Thelema?"
Many Thelemites have effectively made use of 12 step programs.
"Also with said friend’s very limited understanding of Thelema the phrase “turn your will over to the care of a god of your understanding” has left this person a little confused."
It's the dual use of "will." In that sentence, it infers a personality trait which, in fact, is a fiction. True Will has nothing to do with the personality (unless the pesonality has aligned itself with True Will - which, in fact, is more or less what that instruction is saying).
It's not at all un-Thelemic to acknowledge that there is an infinite power (known by many possible names or references) which is greater than one's personality. In fact, I'd argue that there is no spiritual progress without such a postulate.
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Thank you for your insight Mr. Eshelman! It cleared up a lot for my friend. I must say that my friend does acknowledge a power greater than them. I unfortunately did not covey the question in the best of terms. Thank you again and I look forward to reading your book!
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I just finished reading "Infinite Jest" a week or two ago, and one of the big themes is addiction, and big subplots delve into the 12-step world.
It was really fascinating for me because I've always kind of turned my nose up at big parts of it. I still do on some level. At the same time, after reading the book, I don't think I will every scoff at a recovering addict doing the 12-step again. Whatever silly system we use to get "there" there's something indescribable about a person having the courage to slowly face years of painful memories and f****d up behavior.
Jim, this is really tangential, but in another thread, you said:
"That mostly results from the Truth Sense that is one of the natural consequences of actual initiation. The way to accelerate it is to purge yourself of as much bullshit as you can and stop playing "I don't want people to see me and understand me games" that is part of the wide social agreement. "
And I can't help but think about how much of behavior and personality (both "normal" and pathological) is really just effectively plugging ourselves up with bullshit of whatever variety, and that unplugging it, whatever that means for each of us, has real spiritual consequences. And for some people, that's 12-step. I'm not a 12-stepper, but that part about letting go of that aspect of that resists facing painful memories and truths has probably been one of my biggest sources of spiritual development so far.
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At one point I was court-ordered to complete an outpatient rehab and 12-step program in a certain period of time. I had to go to 30 meetings of each in an eight month period. At the time I was just getting into Magick/Thelema. After a period of time I discovered I could simply fake the signatures for the AA meetings, but as there was no getting out of the rehab ("drug diversion meetings") I had to complete them all. I ended up dropping out of these, and after a failed attempt to escape to Canada (during which I was arrested at the border, twice) , I returned from an ashram in New Hampshire and completed the training. I enventually found a class with a good teacher who would bring in a Buddhist monk on Tuesdays for meditation and teaching. I attended these religiously (having just been spat out of an ashram), and I think this is why my teacher ignored the marijuana in my piss tests. These were rather interesting, as I had to urinate with a large ex-convict on methadone looking over my shoulder, and this in a tiny lavatory. I had a problem urinating with other people around for a while. But I kicked my meth habit, and have never touched meth amphetamine in the last five years. The rehab meetings were based around the 12 step program, and I realized that the success of the program isn't Jesus, as one would think, but its ability to cause the individual to investigate the root causes if their addiction, and to form positive bonds with other, like minded individuals--much like what would happen in a Thelemic organization. So the two have many similarities, yes.
I apologize for the haste of this post but I'm doing homework and reading the Iliad for class and have to multitask.
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Edit: the automated forum Gestapo censored what should read "urinalysis." And it may have been the copious amount of cranberry juice that I consumed in the days prior to these tests that contributed to the fact that I always tested negative for substances.
Edit # 2: from reading the above, one might easily assume that I never kicked the habit at all.
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Uh, Lol, the word you used wasn't "urinalysis."
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I was using the technical term as the word police seem to be on the prowl.
