College of Thelema: Thelemic Education

93 modernP,

"I'm all for the prosperity of the individual but it's a particularly difficult moral question for those of us in the advertising industry who use our audio-visual magick to create needs where there simply are none."

I don't work in the advertising industry but I can see your point of view and the moral dilemma that arises from it. I don't know if there is a quick solution or viable alternative that would satisfy everyone. The solution in my eyes, lies solely with the individual (the consumer). It is the consumer that has to be responsible and conscious of the decisions they make and not fall prey to the media blitz and all of its glitter.

As someone that works in the advertising industry, what changes would you implement to address the issue you have raised?

In your initial post you stated:

"The Zeitgeist trilogy of documentaries delves quite deeply into the problem and exposes how consumerism with no thought of consequence is embedded in our monetary system, our economics and our incessant need for material objects to fill the void of a deep dissatisfaction with life."

Lack of spiritual fulfillment would perhaps be one of the reasons for the deep dissatisfaction and the need to acquire material posessions to fill the void.

"I would personally opt for a gentle water-birth into sustainability but given that board members care about one thing only then if the herd is to be destroyed in mass well then one may as well profit off it!"

What I have stated previously and my current reply are my viewpoints and I did not intend to speak on behalf of others, I apologize if that is how I came across. I was also not encouraging "the herd to be destroyed in mass" but rather trying to state that each individual is responsible for the actions they undertake.

Thank you for your post, as it allowed me to reflect on my own spending habits and the impact that advertising plays in my daily life.

93, 93/93

93 modernP et. all,

"1) Do you think an "apocalypse" of sorts is headed our way?"

Desperate times call of desperate measures . I think we have always lived in "desperate times" and that in turn has given rise to many of our technological advancements, shifts in human consciousness, etc. While the road ahead may have some difficult times where it may seem that the heavens are going to fall on us, I don't believe that we are close to self-destruction. We are resilient and challenges for us serve as a catalyst to expand our consciousness and the interaction we have with our universe.

"2) Do you think it is even viable to counter this by promoting ecological awareness, the reform of rampant consumerism or is it a case of "too little too late"?"

In my opinion it is never too late to fight for what one feels is necessary to better their immediate surroundings. Promoting ecological awareness can only serve to benefit humanity as a whole, but as far as consumerism is concerned it is up to the individual to spend (or go in debt) their earnings as they see fit. I don't necessarily see material wealth as a bad thing, it allows me to provide for my family and the freedom to delve into understanding myself. Balance is key in my book. Too much of a good thing has the potential to distract one from what is crucial to one's life.

93, 93/93

93 Evol,

Thank you very much for the awesome link, much appreciated!

93 93/93

93 Jim,

Thank you very much for your reply.

93 93/93

93 all,

I have been slowly trying to work my way through the Lesser Banishing Pentagram Ritual, and have several questions that I would like to ask. I apologize ahead of time if my message seems confusing, it is very confusing for me to try to express my questions but I will try my best.

The Qabalistic Cross I have no troubles with, my questions start with the drawing of the banishing pentagrams of earth in the quadrants, starting from east, continuing to south, west, north and then finishing in the east.

Am I correct in my assumption that east represents fire, south represents water, west represents air and north represents earth? I ask because I have always assumed that YHVH represents Yod - Air, Heh - Water, Vau - Fire, Heh - Earth.

When one reaches the invocation of the Archangels, they are facing east. Before me Raphael, to me uttering before me would signify Tipareth, which according to YHVH formula would be VAU - fire, yet in the MIddle Pillar by Israel Regardie, he mentions that Raphael has "airy qualities".

Behind me Gabriel (behind me, would be Yesod) if we are standing on the intersection between Samech and Peh. Gabriel is to have watery qualities which I have no problem with since its association with Yesod.

On my right hand Michael (right side would correspond to Hod) yet Regardie mentions that upon visualizing Michael he should be visualized as fiery.

On my left Auriel (left hand would corespond to Netzach) yet here Auriel is to embody earthly qualities as if he pertained to Malkuth.

I apologize again if my concerns aren't expressed clearly and will clarify as best as I can if it is necessary. To be truthful this is really bugging me because I feel like I am making progress as far as mechanics and vibrating the Godnames and Archangels but it is frustrating that I am having such difficulty on tying it all together.

I appreciate anyone's input on this matter

Love is the law, love under will

93 everyone,

I have also struggled with periods where there seems to be no desire to do any magickal work whatsoever. As others have mentioned I think jotting these times down in the journal (and also reading past entries, if one has kept a journal) helps tremendously.

One thing that I have noticed lately is that exercising really helps me to focus on ritual work. I have been thinking of going back to visit my Sensei and joining karate once again. Exercising daily and a relaxing walk afterwards really helps me get motivated as far as ritual work is concerned.

My 2 cents

93 93/93

93,

My software is displaying the right thelemic date, I wasn't taking into account the Vernal equinox. Anything prior to the vernal equinox would be displayed as IV 18, dates after the Vernal Equinox would be displayed as IV 19.

It's not the software that is wrong, it's the computer user that's slow.

Thanks again for your help

93 93/93

93 Jim,

Thank you for answering my question. And yes, the application that I am using is showing 19 rather then it's roman numeral equivalent of XIX.

Which leads me to ask why is my software apparently one year behind in its calculations. It makes little difference since I can arrive at the date manually.

Again, thank you for your help.

93 93/93

93 all,

I am having some difficulty in understanding on how one arrives at the current thelemic date.

I have found the following online, and I quote "...The Thelemic calendar counts years from 1904 e.v. (the year Liber AL was received). Each Thelemic year starts on Vernal Equinox of the year. Rather than simply giving the year count from 1904, the Thelemic calendar uses a two-tiered system. The "upper" level gives a count of twenty-two year periods since 1904; the "lower" level gives the years since the start of the current twenty-two year period. Both are zero-based, with nonzero numbers being represented as upper and lower case Roman numerals, respectively. So, for example, the civil year 1996 is (after March 20) Thelemic year IViv (because 1904 + (4 * 22) + 4 equals 1996).
Some Thelemites assign the twenty-two years of each cycle to the twenty-two Trumps of the Tarot. The 22-year period numbers themselves are also assigned in this way. Hence, 1996 is doubly linked to Trump IV of the Tarot, the Emperor.
Within each year, dates and times are often expressed by the positions of Sun and Moon in the Tropical zodiac. For example, May 12, 1996 e.v. at 6pm PST would be expressed as "IViv, Sol 22° Taurus, Luna 29° Pisces." This specifies the precise date and time to within about two hours.
When giving dates in the civil calendar, Thelemites will often append "e.v." This is an abbreviation of the Latin phrase "era vulgaris," or "common era.".

According to an application that I am using to calculate the thelemic date the current date is An iv18 Sol 27° Aquarius, Luna 28° Cancer Dies Mercurii
Wednesday, February 16, 2011 e.v. 12:34 AM

Shouldn't it be An iv19? An iv18 = 2010?

I apologize if this seems rather poorly worded out, or am I missing something obvious and making this more difficult then it really is.

Thank you in advance,

93 93/93

93 Jim,

Thanks, much appreciated.

93 93/93

93 all,

I am having some issues with the current Hebrew font that is installed on my PC. I have been able to find all the letters but the final letters,for example the letter Kaph Final is not there. and was wondering if there are other Hebrew fonts that include the final letters as well.

Thank you for your help,

93 93/93.

Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law,

A worthy read in my opinion.

A Practical Guide to Qabalistic Symbolism by Gareth Knight.

Love is the law, love under will.

RvCH

Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law,

I am new to forums so I hope I don't botch this terribly. Before posting something about myself, I took some time to read some of the posts on the forums (2 days worth and I suspect I will have many more hours of reading). Many of the posts that I have read were helpful in shedding some light on some of the issues that I have been struggling with in my magickal path and discovering ones' True Will.

Some of my favorite authors include: Aleister Crowley, Israel Regardie, Christopher Hyatt, Lon Milo DuQuette, Dion Fortune, etc.; and my main interests in magick is centered around Thelema and Kabbalah.

I have recently acquired some works of Franz Bardon (Initiation into Hermetics and The Key to the True Kabbalah) and was curious if anyone has read these works and what they thought of them overall?

Thank you all for the opportunity to be part of this forum and I hope to contribute in the near future.

Love is the law, love under will.

RvCH