College of Thelema: Thelemic Education

Hi Alice,
Thanks for the suggestion. Unfortunately I do not live in the US, and can't afford to travel there either now or in the foreseeable future. Also despite a deep appreciation for the Thelemic cosmology/Mythos and the Law of Thelema itself, I do not recognise Crowley as a prophet, and so am hesitant to join a purely Thelemic group and path. Being in more direct contact with a group that feels good however, is more important to me than the paradigm that underlies it. To use a rather weird metahpor: Despite the differences in ice cream flavour this far from the farm, they all come from the same cow, and if the shop is readily accessible and is a nice place to eat, then I'll get my ice cream there and follow their recipe till the cow comes home. Which is pretty much what you were saying Hermes.
And so with all that being said the FLO seems the place for me. Time to get down to work on a double scoop cone.

Thanks for the input peoples!

Yeah I did just that (get in contact with someone from the Aus FLO) and asked them some questions, including about the value and overlap that might be involved from embarking upon both the BOTA and FLO work. The coursework and material differs enough that there isn't a lot of overlap, and they are similar enough that they will work well together. So I'm leaning that way, especially considering they have an active initiating temple in my home town. Gonna read some of the Paul F. Case stuff I have on hand as well as some foundation documents of theirs and see where that takes me.

Hi Gnosomai,

Thank you for your input. It looks like the FLO may have an active temple/s as they have a dedicated Australian site and an Australian director of probationers. BOTA appears to be in a similar boat, with study groups throughout Australia and an Australian site. I've read on the forum about BOTA and FLO being somewhat similar but with FLO covering the BOTA coursework at a faster pace with the aim of moving towards initiation. This certainly has me leaning towards one of the two, and I hear nothing but good things about both of them. As it stands in my consideration at the moment it is a decision mostly between BOTA, FLO, and AS. I'm not sure if Aurum Solis does any in person ritual initiations or is based more on correspondence, but the website says they have Pronaos students here, but no houses. SOL has no lodges in Australia going by their website.

I am not too reppelled by judaeo-christian mythos, certainly there is much value in it, but also so much blood and ignorance, and it's hard to wring that out of it and make it holy again. I think this influence on me and the use of pagan pantheons and mythos is what keeps AS on my list and is really making this decision a hard one. But without any active temples here it might be too high a price to pay if I continued on with them, as travelling outside of Australia to get initiated is not an option now or in the foreseeable future.

Hi all,
So i have been reading posts about correspondence schools and other initiatory magickal orders and there are a few that come up regularly and seem authentic and viable to someone looking to join and engage in a reliable and genuinely spiritually connected system/order. These are:

BOTA - builders of the adytum
Fraternitas LVX Occulta - Fraternity of the hidden light
SOL - servants of the light
AS - Aurum Solis

I am at a point where I would like to start more formal and structured work, however I don't feel ready to join the A A. So I'm looking for some recommendations or information on these groups from people who have a closer understanding/relationship with the organisations.
Also I am in Australia so this should be taken into account.
Orders change over time, and as the people running them and who are a part of them change. A lot of the posts I read are a little or a lot old so be nice to find some fresh insight and the scope of consideration to take into account how they stand and operate now. So with this and what i am and am not particularly interested in forms the main guide to my inquiry, and to recommendations and info.

What I am not heaps interested in: complex gematria and an over reliance on hebrew/judaic pantheons, strong christian influences and flavour, Enochian, superiority complexes and overly large egos, too much theory and too little practical progress.

What I am interested in: Tarot, astral projection and work, alchemical symbolism, paganism, hermetic teachings and hermetic qabalah, the number seven, meditative techniques, honesty and humility.

I know some interests and disinterests are a tad contradictory, as many of them are quite co-mingled, but that's the nature of western mystery traditions it seems, and some lean one way more than others whilst still containing a sprinkling of most of them.
Any help would be greatly appreciated. I'm really stuck on this and it is time to stop working on my own/without trustworthy correspondence, and bumbling my way through in a diffuse unstructured manner.

To get clarification on a point: In the egg and letter meditation, on the day that you pull out your random Tarot trump, you (Jim) said "sit into the same meditation for a day". Are you meaning to do the exercise as normal but with the random tarot trump visualised in front of you, or the letter for the trump, or something else?

Thanks for this and your other spontaneously put together graduated practices for us working alone out here in the wild.

93

This has been intensely helpful! Thanks for the discussion.

So for what I'm currently engaged in for creating elemental divine names: First I wrote out the elements in english, then removed letters common to all of them.
This gives F = fire, W = water, and H = earth. Air, interestingly enough has no letter of it's own. Also when compared to german it is the only element word that is drastically different from it's english counterpart, being "luft". I'm still considering ways to remedy this besides using the letter A because I feel if I use one vowel then I may as well use them all as there are, conveniently, five of them. For spirit R seems appropriate as it is the one letter contained in all of them.

Now, for the case of using the vowels. If you amplify the harmonics of your voice starting from the lowest, essentially trying to isolate the Fundamental frequency of the note, and then progress upwards from there to higher and higher harmonics, the sequence I arrived at is UOAEI. What strikes me about this as a side note is that if you go in reverse it sounds like a very sonorous and smouth intonation of IAO. Consider the E transitory between I and A, and the U as simply a double O and that's exactly what you get. Anyway, whether to consider the higher harmonics to be related to fire, and then progress down to the lower and hit earth, or to start from the fundamental and go the other way round has two considerable points swaying me on either side.

The first is the principle seen in cymatics. If you don't know what this is I strongly suggest looking it up as you wont be disappointed. This suggests starting the progression towards manifestation from the lower frequencies (U=fire) as cymatic patterns increase in complexity as you go higher in pitch and this mirrors nicely the progression of division and greater complexity as you move towards concrete manifestation. I should mention that these considerations hinge upon the formula of YHVH in it's elemental sense and progression. The second goes the opposite way based upon the notion that earth is slower and heavy (more inertial) and so the lower frequency fits in well there. Also higher frequencies tend to be associated with higher states of energy. "A" sticks out in this scheme (whichever direction you take it from) as being best associated with spirit as it is most open and contains the fundamental and all of the harmonics fairly evenly represented; moreso than the others which begin to filter either the lower or higher harmonics as you move towards them from the open mouth, flat tongued A.

This vowel system being so closely tied to YHVH and the four worlds formula has raised consideration for using it as a means to denote what level of being is called upon; opening up possibilities for signifying whether something is a god, archangel, angel or elemental. This option needs further consideration and to be weighed against the vowels as being more suited to such a purpose or as elemental signifiers.

Thanks for the advice Jim. I had a quick stab at it but didn't get too far, and certainly feel it is better left as the refined and worked out (more or less) system it already is. I've read your idea regarding the cell level hard wiring of Hebrew letter sounds somewhere else on the forum. Quite a proposition. With rather massive implications.

You are right on the money with regards to what I'm attempting. On that note, it seems the greatest difficulty I'm experiencing is in signifying highest divinity. There are a few interesting options open for encoding the elements in this particular case, but to also signify essentially "The highest divine ineffable ruler" of such, is not so satisfactorily forthcoming.
I will post some of the ideas I have developed so far once they settle a little more into place. Attempting to type it all out into a post has raised some possibilities that could do with a nights rest and further thought.

Is the suggestion then that even if I do create new names, that I use the hebrew letters and their correspondences as the basis to build these from? If this is the case I would be slightly concerned about creating confusion or subtle kinds of short circuits due to their heavy traditional use. That being said it would be very interesting to see how close my results might parallel the existing names used for the same purposes, if any. In fact this is so interesting and potentially revealing that I will have a crack at it just to see what comes out.

More than likely. But not necessarily. I have a thing for Phoenician but that may turn out to be another matter, and tends to land back at Hebrew (and the other way around).

I'll be okay with it if my explorations at the worst result in some wasted time and effort Patriel. I'm aware of this risk and it is a concern, so hearing from people like yourself that they believe wasted T&E is all i'll get based on their experiences is helpful and appreciated feedback. The potential to create a more personally effective and harmonious ritual is worth such an exchange at this stage though. Plus there are many side benefits in the deepening of my understanding of other things and the generally stimulating intellectual side of it. (though gods know this is perhaps a rather disproportionate aspect of many magicians)

Faust, if I could astral project to help me in this I most certainly would. Unfortunately I can't, though this is a primary spiritual goal I am currently working towards. Part of the reason for creating this thread is in the hope that those with such abilities and greater understanding of spiritual and Magickal principles can aid what I am attempting and/or warn me of any potential pitfalls I may be unaware of.

Portmanteau may have some viability that i intend to experiment with (now that I know what it is). If this can be combined with some sort of numerical symbolism, either with syllables or the number of letters used in the portmanteau, this will provide two rules to work from and perhaps build further upon. While I'm at it I might trawl through forum topics on English quabbalah and letter correspondences for useful information.

More ideas and angles to take are very welcome. Also more cautions and opinions on the matter. And thanks all for the input already put forward.

I don't see the SR and LBRP as equivalent. Similar in some parts, but I am not attempting to directly equate the two. I understand that they are built from two different formulas and as such the series of god names - especially the series of god names - serve different purposes. I understand that there has been a lot of confusion regarding the series of divine names in the LRP, I was greatly thrown about and perplexed by this, as well as the whole going clockwise for an apparent banishing ritual and am totally indebted to this forum for clearing up the confusion there.

Relating to what you've said in the second paragraph about designing a custom banishing ritual based more or less on the star ruby, you are bang on there. That is the specific application that is driving this on at the moment, but it's the general principle of finding a process for the creation of divine names that can work in varying ritual design or customisation circumstances that is at the heart of the query.
I haven't heard of the method you mentioned by James Joyce or the Latin simplex gematria. They sound like excellent leads that I will have to look into, thanks for pointing me in their direction. I'll report back on what I find there.

As for finding a harmonious and effective way to quabbalise and numericise the english alphabet this is really a kind of holy grail to pull off and get right. I think either way it is desirable that the system be simple, effective and does not have a massively convoluted basis from which meaning and representations can be derived, or from which the attributions are developed.

The formulas are expressed and enacted in ritual with the use of a pantheon. These are the forms and cloth draped over the invisible which are most suited and in harmony with it (to use a floral tone of expression). For example the LBRP uses the Hebrew pantheon, and the star ruby uses the Thelemic pantheon. I understand that they are based on different formulas.

The star ruby and even the greater banishing ritual of the pentagram is probably a more apt example of where I am headed in the specific context of the application of god names and the general overarching formula, but the ritual design in general is not what concerns me right now (though perhaps it should). Maybe for the sake of this discussion we can say that I am attempting to reclothe quite drastically the star ruby, and so we need some gods for the elemental quadrants but we cannot use any that already exist. Now the questions in my posts above have a context to view them within which I hope makes more sense of them. At the same time the implications and applications appear quite general and far reaching.

It's the way god names work in general - Hebrew using as you say the quabbalistic interpretations of the individual letters and their respective correspondences as a method of dialling in to their force which is an expression of unity - and it is methods and means like this that are the focus of my exploration and questions.

It's not a matter of just working it that I am tackling here. Full consideration as to why I am desiring not to just use current pantheons would be a long and drawn out discussion which I am interested in pursuing with people at some stage and probably some other thread, but is somewhat beside the main driving issue i would like to handle here.

Reading what you have said Patriel, you are saying that you don't think such a method would work and be effective? This is the primary concern that I have. But from what I understand about the reasons for use of certain god names, the way ritual is constructed and why existing pantheons are placed where they are on the tree of life, it appears that the techniques and lines of reasoning are more or less similar to ones that I am proposing would apply.

To restate my inquiry, is it feasible to do as I have suggested? If so are there any dangers that may arise or certain principles and points that it could be checked against to ensure I am indeed calling up the right force? And does anybody have any suggestions that might help in this task?

*Ritual for the morning grind and summoning of the great lord Espresso.
Holding thine implement in hand, sprinkle liberally with powder from the beans of awakening whilst intoning "urrrgurmefer, too early fer mer". Then tamp down with the holy hammer, turning clockwise. Once this is duly accomplished, place implement into the holy hot water dispenser, turning counter clockwise till stable and sealed union takes hold, and perform the alchemical operation that will extract the black dew and create the heavenly morning brew.
Add milk and sugar to taste.*

If I were to take the stance that gods do exist as pure and for lack of a better word “objective” beings, I would see them as very grand and archetypal; partaking of the hierarchical nature suitable to them in the general Quabbalistic scheme: Atziluth. This implies that they are very pure aspects of the one that is none by virtue of being all, and the most primordial expressions of the first fragmentation that is in fact not fragmented at all (if you follow my drift). I then see the names as mere human expressions of these greatest forces, which are called by many names according to the taint of those persons and their respective cultures who managed some form of contact or glimpse of those forces. As such for the purposes of trying to call to aid the most divine and pure force of, lets say the element of fire, to banish all the lower and proceeding varieties of this force, why not try to intellectually design a better dialling system. A mnemonic calling card that opens me more fully and tunes me more precisely as a conduit for that force.

In short, I am not really fixed on the idea as to whether gods do or don't exist, but acting as though they do the above applies and space appears to potentially create more personally harmonious and effective rituals by the use of personally harmonious expressions of the formulae.
An example might be to say that A = atziluth, F=fire, the combination “it” represents an existentialising quality, and “is” kind of activates it further. So then ITAFIS is a potentially suitable name for fire in it's highest aspect and could be used as a divine name? Other options such as a numeric basis similar to the Hebraic system instead, or in combination with the above, where A=1 and 1 corresponds to Kether and so on, are available. Would this kind of thing or something like it work? Is there something I am fundamentally missing/misunderstanding that renders all this a huuge waste of time?

How might I reliably devise divine names suitable for ritual use without using existing pantheons or the hebrew alphabet?

Hello and 93 all,

So my question is regarding replacing/substituting/creating god names in rituals. I have worked with the LBRP and the Star Ruby in the past and it is in the blending of these together somewhat, that I arrived at this question. Although it is specifically oriented to my desire to change the names for a custom pentagram (elemental) banishing ritual and will thus extend to a change throughout the whole fabric of the ritual (archangels, Quabb cross etc), the principle seems to have more general applications in ritual construction.

The main issues which lead me away from using the original Thelemic God names as in the star ruby and the Hebraic in the LBRP are that the Thelemic God names (especially Nuit and Hadit) are not strongly elemental in nature to my mind, the Hebrew names only hold their correspondence by a rather arbitrary tacking on or significantly convoluted and laboured personal Quabbalistic analysis, and the association of existing pantheons to their relevant cultures and pasts and other associated mental detritus makes them less than clean and ideal for me.

I have come at this from a few different angles but just aren't getting anywhere near to a feasible solution. I understand (or at least think i do) that god names are like a concatenation of ideas, where each letter represents an ingredient that makes up the nature of the god, and have as such attempted the rather large and unwieldy task of linguistic and philogical analysis of alphabets ranging from the runic to the Phoenecian, modern English and back, in order to synthesize letter meanings and attributes across the broad range of related systems. As incredibly interesting and insightful this is in it's own right, I am still without a functional and cohesive system with which I can derive words of power that sing so sweetly and full of the forces I am trying to involve.

So any ideas or help and especially methods or checks to ensure this is done properly and without damaging the rituals effectiveness (or worse) would be immeasurably helpful.

If this is a totally ridiculous undertaking and amounts to something as extravagant as creating my own mythology and allied alphabet that hold as a reflection of divine truths not even comprehensible to me, then let me know and I'll suffer it well in silence.

Also any good old school paintings of the archangels with a relationship, however strong or weak, to the telesmatic technique and correspondences?

Very keen to develop more depth in the archangels.

Possible to get a link or a paste of the childrens hebrew prayer?
Google does nothing.

I had a good example at work today.
I said in relation to where some of my time goes, "I have spiritual pursuits". It gave a nice possiblity of further discussion if they were interested, without being too arcane or heavy on specific associations and bizarreing them out.

I describe and understand the basic tenet of Thelema (if the discussion progresses that way), as the principle that we should all be able to live freely as we will, so long as we don't hinder anybody elses ability to do the same, and act with love. And if we all did that, we'd be sweet.

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