College of Thelema: Thelemic Education

Awesome! Thanx Again!

Thanx again Jim, I hope I didn't make you late.

For some reason I thought that AC had advised us to read the Book of the Law then burn it, and not to analyze it, or discuss it. Basically so we don't end up like catholics and protestants fighting over their different interpretations of the bible or something like that, or maybe my mind made that up... ...

Anyways thanx again.

What is a Ku, Ka and Khab? Seriously?

I have been told to do the adoration after RESH, from Liber Legis, CH III vs 37-38. When doing Resh i can visualize all of the gods, etc. I find this very powerful, but when I get to the lines:

Open the ways of the Khu!
Lighten the ways of the Ka!
The ways of the Khabs runs through...

It seems like gibberish.

Secondly, am I even allowed to discuss the Book of the Law? Or analyze it?

Thanx in advance, as always your guidance is helping greatly.

Haha! Thanx Jim, you have been a big help.

I have always sought to have a connection to the divine. As a child I would pray often, and drag my parents to church.

Christianity, never felt right for me. Before reading the Book of the Law, I knew instinctively "All words are sacred and all prophets true; save only that they understand a little". So as an adult I decided to maintain a connection to the divine through prayer and meditation. I basically made up my own concept of god and would pray to that, through out the day, not just in the morning or at night. A lot of the time more as a friend or father figure, my prayers would be like "dude that was awesome" or "are you kidding me? You want me to deal with this bullshit?", like a conversation.

This is a habit for me now, and but I feel weird now after delving into Thelema, learning about so many "gods", god forms, elements, demons. Who am I talking to? Is it safe to say that even though I have not attained knowledge and conversation with my HGA, that this dialog can be directed at my HGA? And that while meditating I should be open to possibly hearing something back? Or observing signs in my life, intuition, etc, that might be my HGA trying to get through to me?

Or am I just talking to myself?

"I think you're on the right track. You have good ideas and have been given good advice."

Thank you!

"One question: Does the work you intend to do actually require a circle? (Most magick does not.) That would affect the decision regarding the cloth."

Nothing has so far at my level has specifically called for a circle. I assumed, I would need one, but that assumption was based on pictures I had scene of other magical spaces.

I will try the candles for now. Thanks again for all the help.

"Do you have a magical space prepared within?"

Within myself? Yes/No, I guess we all have a magical space within, I am working on enlargening mine, maybe knock a few walls down and put on an extension.

I will try the carpet and alter. Mostly I just don't want to paint on any surfaces and void my lease. But I can always improvise a little.

I live in a 1 bedroom apartment, a lot of my space is used up as a recording space for music. Also I have a great landlord, but I am pretty sure if I painted a circle on the floor or any symbols that his old aeon mind might think are satanic, he would be upset.

I would love some tips on how I can make my space feel more sacred and magical, but be able to stow it away if I need to tidy up for visitors like my landlord or a first date.

For example, this morning I thought I could get a carpet and paint a circle on it, then I could roll it up and stow it away, if needed. Right now I am using a rope.

Thanks!

"Lon Duquette has a good saying for this topic. "It's all in your head. You just have no idea how big your head is.""
I actually listened to Lon Doquette on a pod cast yesterday, that's what sparked all these questions.

I just spent an a little over an hour meditating, and doing some ritual work, like the LBRP. I spent some time basically having a one sided conversation with my HGA, where I basically said "I am new, and also alone (dont know any magicians, still not in an order) and asked for it to help guide me"

I feel pretty good.

Thanx everyone for the input and support, its helping a lot.

I have heard it said before, and I think it will help me to use the idea that I don't need to understand or see how electricity works to see the result obtained from flipping a light switch.

So for now, maybe I think my real dilemma is being to eager to know everything at once. I think I will relax and enjoy the process, and I can draw my own conclusions later on.

Thanks again for the great insights, it's great of you to help.

Thank you all so much.

Sadly I feel if my aim was to become connected to the devine, finding out that they are just aspects of my psyche, doesn't seem very devine.

For example: When I join an order like the O.T.O. or T.O.T. and we are wearing robes and performing a ritual, I feel like there will be a little voice in my head saying "Dude this is just a bunch of grown ups playing make believe". And I fear that little voice will ruin my chances of going forward.

I don't mean any disrespect, I am still going to go down this path. I just feel like the effect would have been stronger if I had believed theses things to be external. Maybe I am completely missing something. Can some of you please elaborate on your experience? Did anyone else have these thoughts? Will it still work for me?

I can definitely relate to the this idea of needing to rebel, to break the chains, I definitely left home with a middle finger in the air.

I was raised Christian, used to drag my parents to church. Fast forward to present and my favorite shirt for the past year or two has a giant upside down cross on it. I know my attraction to the symbol is a giant eff you to the dogma that was holding me back, spiritually. (Even though its not even an evil symbol, the pope's got a upside down cross or St. Peters cross on his funny hat )

Thanks for your inputs.

Hello.

I have been really throwing myself into my thelemic studies, and have kind of hit a road block.

Everything was going great until I started to hear people's theories that some of the "spirits" (for lack of a better word) are actually part of the subconscious or psyche.

The thing I don't understand is; if they are part of my psyche how would they be able to effect change in the universe?

What are people's opinions on this? Real or in the psyche?

Thank you, that helps. I have many questions, it's nice to get some answers.

Hi, Admittedly I am new to Thelema. Still just reading and learning, but one thing I thought weird was. And I am paraphrasing all of this.

I noticed that A.C. mentions the prophets of many of the other religions from Lao Tzu to Mohamed, they all seem to have had some influence on him, and get a little respect from him. He said something to the effect of "All prophets are right, yet that they know only a little". Yet he seems to go off on Christianity. And essentially said he would be the downfall of christianity.

Would it not make more sense to be the downfall of all Monotheistic religions, especially the Abrahamic ones? So Christianity, Muslim, etc.

I was just wondering why all the focus on christianity?

I am in no way trying to re-write thelema, I am only seeking answers to my questions. Not doubting A.C., just curious as to why it is all targetted on christianity, when I see just as many flaws in the Muslim Faith, Jewish Faith, etc.

Thank you so much. I feel more drawn to the T.O.T. as it is the method I am most intersted in at this point.

However I have already contacted both the O.T.O. and T.O.T. in my city and will look into each. I will do some personal investigation, hopefulyl meet with some members, before making a final decision.

Thanx Again!

Not sure what to say about myself? Musician/Artist. Futurist, Dreamer.

I got into the Occult as a child, reading books in the library about crystals, tarot, spells, etc. Got the book Necronomicon at age 12, started doing rituals with my neighborhood buddies. Eventually got scared by some of the things I was reading and threw the book away.

In later years I read a lot on Taoism and Buddhism, and spent much time meditating. I started a group in my city where we would meditate, then read from a Buddhist text, then apply those things to our week. When we met again we would discuss the experiences we had integrating the experiences into our daily lives. I was able to grow much during this time, and benefited most from my increased ability to be mindful.

The past few years I have renewed my interest in Magick. I only know Wiccans, so I have no one to discuss Thelema with, I find most of the Wiccans I know, lacking any real answers or enlightenment. I aam not stereotyping, it is just my experience.

Lately I have been Meditating daily, practicing Liber 200, reading a lot on Thelema, as well as listening to thelemic podcasts daily. I listened to a great one today that had an interview with Genesis P-Orridge, a musician I respect who, until today, I had no idea was into Thelema. Here is a link to the interview, I thought it was great. www.media-underground.net/site/index.php?/archives/1401-Thelema-Now-Podcast-Genesis-P-Orridge.html

My number one priority in life is my music and art, with my spirtuality a close 2nd. I hope to draw on the things I learn in Thelema to inpire my Music/Art, in the least "New Age/Hippy" way possible.

93

Hi,

Ok can someone who is knowledgeable, explain to me the main differences and similarities between the O.T.O. and the Temple of Thelema. In my city there is both and O.T.O and a Temple of Thelema and I am looking into both but was wondering what the differences are?

The O.T.O. in my city is located in the richest neighborhood on a street full of expensive shops. I am a musician and an artist, with a "punk" kind of esthetic, and a definite blue collar upbringing. I am a succesful and hard working young man but for some reason I am concerned about my not fitting in to that location. Is this silly? I know Thelema is about individuality, but I also picture this location being a bunch of rich business guys, who might not appreciate my leather jacket and doc martins.

Anyways I am studying hard on my own, meditating daily, performing Liber 200, and experimenting with other Thelemic practices. I know I am on the right path, hopefully soon I will find somewhere I can meet people with more experience then me, who can help me on my journey.