College of Thelema: Thelemic Education

The Concept of Flow discussed by Mihály Csíkszentmihályi seems extremely relevant, and lest I be mistaken, the main point of the topic.

There is also a "documentary" [Examined Life] that touches on this.

Do What Thou Wilt,

I know well (my interpretation) of the emotional states you've described, THc, and for what it's worth (to you) I have recently been shared this audio book. The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruíz. It's not explicitly Thelemic, but to my ears has quite a resonance.

In my own quests I've found it helpful when one's Self reminds themselves that the Abyss is of Hallucinations, has "Law and Reason; but in Truth there is no bond between the Toys of the Gods." The Ego Driven quest for explanation is a short cut to Understanding, and it does not cross the Abyss with one's Self, but is stripped away. Short Circuits can cause an overload of current that contemporaneously "damages" the established circuitry. This sorrow (to me) sounds of the nature of that shedding of the skin, the clinging to Reason and

"27. There is great danger in me; for who doth not understand these runes shall make a great miss. He shall fall down into the pit called Because, and there he shall perish with the dogs of Reason.

28. Now a curse upon Because and his kin!
29. May Because be accursed for ever!
30. If Will stops and cries Why, invoking Because, then Will stops & does nought.
31. If Power asks why, then is Power weakness.
32. Also reason is a lie; for there is a factor infinite & unknown; & all their words are skew-wise.
33. Enough of Because! Be he damned for a dog!
34. But ye, o my people, rise up & awake!"

and also

"45. There is death for the dogs.

46. Dost thou fail? Art thou sorry? Is fear in thine heart?
47. Where I am these are not.
48. Pity not the fallen! I never knew them. I am not for them. I console not: I hate the consoled & the consoler."

and

"66. Write, & find ecstasy in writing! Work, & be our bed in working! Thrill with the joy of life & death! Ah! thy death shall be lovely: whososeeth it shall be glad. Thy death shall be the seal of the promise of our age long love. Come! lift up thine heart & rejoice! We are one; we are none."

I would suggest you converse with your HGA as to what this state you are passing through is all about, and S/HE can relay better information.

Your Will is yours, and it is not feasible that another Star could discern it's nuances, even enough to pinpoint relevant anecdotes to answer your Initial quest-ion. IM(ns)HO your discussion speaks to many symptoms not just of Clinical Depression, but also to a state of (what seems to me to be) Grandiosity and other traits that confirm to the Clinical term Bipolar. The Oscillation between Despair and Ego Explosions is a red flag, to me.

My own painful stories are, like most stories, ones of Ego (identity, not Self) impinging it's Reason on Will, surrounded by the hallucinations of Time (past/future focus, leaving the Now immobilized with despair); the release from that state of Perpetual Despair has taught me this: Faith = +(Certainty); Hope = +(Uncertainty); Fear = -(Uncertainty); Despair = -(Certainty). With that Hope = Faith + Fear; Fear = Despair + Hope.

Let go and let God (as the southern baptists say). Acceptance is what it sounds like you're missing, and the lack of acceptance (the clinging to Pain, by the hands of Remorse and Regret) sounds (to me) to be a major component of what you're describing. I would recommend, for your own health, though you're explicitly not asking for it, that you look into some of the Cognitive Therapy that's been discussed. Psychology is a grandchild of Magick, and it's approach can be helpful. I particularly find use in Mindfulness Based therapies, as they are heavily influenced from Buddhism, and (in my experience) compatible with Magickal thought patterns.

"42. Let it be that state of manyhood bound and loathing. So with thy all; thou hast no right but to do thy will.

43. Do that, and no other shall say nay.
44. For pure will, unassuaged of purpose, delivered from the lust of result, is every way perfect."

I speak but from my own Ego's mouth, and would Do well to remember:

"21. We have nothing with the outcast and the unfit: let them die in their misery. For they feel not. Compassion is the vice of kings: stamp down the wretched & the weak: this is the law of the strong: this is our law and the joy of the world. Think not, o king, upon that lie: That Thou Must Die: verily thou shalt not die, but live. Now let it be understood: If the body of the King dissolve, he shall remain in pure ecstasy for ever. Nuit! Hadit! Ra-Hoor-Khuit! The Sun, Strength & Sight, Light; these are for the servants of the Star & the Snake."

In summary, I found this topic to be quite thoroughly discussed and elucidating, and I appreciate the efforts of all, and the earnest honesty of your sharing, THc. Many Gratitudes to you, AL.

Very nice list so far. I'd add that, though I don't think it's "out in the open" (whatever that means in a quantum multiverse), Paulo Coelho's The Alchemist is for good reason seemingly Thelemic, he was at the least a Probationer [here], and I vaguely remember reading more about that, but the details escape me (however The Internet remembers).

I would add to the list some fictions:
*
[:81evx7zw]Philip Kindred Dick: Ubik, Valis, The Transmigration of Timothy Archer, The Divine Invasion; [ paraphrased summary, "What is Real?" ].[/81evx7zw]
[:81evx7zw]Philip José Farmer: Dark is the Sun, Riverworld, The Unreasoning Mask; most of his other works too, he's prolific. [here's Farmer mentioning Crowley][/81evx7zw]
[:81evx7zw]Dan Simmons: Hyperion Cantos; [to paraphrase: "Love is the Law of the Void Which Binds"] I've heard good stuff about his other works, but not vetted for my Self.[/81evx7zw]
[:81evx7zw]Alan Moore: Promethea; I'd highly recommend this to everyone interested in Thelema, Magick, Kabbalah, and even Comics. [Alan Moore's Mindscape a brief docu where he explains a lot.][/81evx7zw]
[:81evx7zw]Robert Anton Wilson: Cosmic Trigger Trilogy; warning, may cause what it says on the cover.[/81evx7zw]
[:81evx7zw]Neal Stepehenson: Snow Crash, Diamond Age, Cryptonomicon; SC gets into the Sumerian psycholinguistics of magic, in a technomantic near future.[/81evx7zw]
[:81evx7zw]Jack L Chalcker: And the Devil Will Drag You Under; a quest across multiverse to retrieve Artifacts for / from "Demons".[/81evx7zw]
Some unfiction:

• [:81evx7zw]Philip K Dick: Exegesis; After his Henosis like experience he spent the rest of his life recording his analysis of the event and "what it all means". [/81evx7zw]
  [:81evx7zw]Robert Anton Wilson: Quantum Psychology; title is accurate, has exercise for group psychology.[/81evx7zw]
  [:81evx7zw]Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi; Simplicity.[/81evx7zw]
  [:81evx7zw]Don Miguel Luíz: The Four Agreements; Syncretic Self awareness with talk of Magick and Maya, etc.[/81evx7zw]

I second the mention of Gibran, would add Hafiz [The Gift]. I don't think the 25year publish date holds well for most of these, but then the rest of the thread didn't seem to care, so... But also, what is Time?

Love is the Law,
Love under Will.

Ah, this discussion is interesting. I'd assumed it was latin derived (ab- en.wiktionary.org/wiki/ab#Latin), though now I see more correlation also with ATU XVI (The Tower).

Reminds me of Alan Moore's discussion of Apocalypse from Mindscape(text here) which may also be related to the "fall" of the Tower of Babel (aka gate of god), ie the abstruction from the ill-ordered house in the victorious city.

Also as 311 (loose interpretation of Ch3Vers11) may be שיא in hebrew, meaning Record or Peak, as in Record Breaking. And if Gematrix is to be believed, has some seemingly interesting relations to the topic (cf. **(http://www.gematrix.org/?word=babel:3ifks4bm)).

Thanks for your Light, SisterBrothers.