College of Thelema: Thelemic Education

It may be interested for you to know that the Greek word "σώμα" [soma] means "body", and Crowley was at a time working upon a Greek gematria, if I recall correctly.

@Takamba said

"
@Surg said
"Wrong forum, you are your own guru."

Wrong answer. There are still "gurus" and "chelas" in the Thelemic system, but if you have hang-ups using those words you can say "student-teacher" instead.

Sorry, I don't know of any teachers in the area but that doesn't mean their aren't any."

Perhaps I'm trying too hard, but following one of the so-called 'gurus' I almost got brainwashed into giving up my dagger. So for now at least, I oppose any and all questions of the 'I'm searching for a guru' type. I am all for saying teacher, but 'guru' doesn't sit well with me.
Besides, I advise you look into what spiritual 'teachers' in India are doing. It's far from being honest and supportive.

Anyway, that's just me rambling.

Wrong forum, you are your own guru.

@Jim Eshelman said

"
@Surg said
"Well, I can't see a hexagram here, regardless of how I bend my mind."

I'm puzzled... it isn't that difficult. It is clearly a hexagram (thoough, admittedly, the lower point is more implied than stated... much like instruction from The Hierophant).
"

Verily. Up to the point that I seem entirely blind to it.

@Jim Eshelman said

"
The think I think you are missing is that it isn't the number of points, but other things like the number of degrees in each angle. Those are not at all 72° angles (as they would be with a pentagram. They are very close to 60° angles (as they are in a hexagram).
"

Can be, but we're talking about penta and hexa grams, which are about the number of lines, not the angles, as shown by the large pentagram encompassing the figure of the Hierophant.

@Jim Eshelman said

"

"Besides, the inner pentagrams wouldn't fit if it was a hexagram."

On the contrary: An important key to understanding The Hierophant is the coexistence of the 5 and the 6. (It's even in the basic numeric patterns of the card: Atu 5, letter value 6 - as you later noted.)
"

Agreed, however that is a pattern that follows throughout the cards, and I have mostly noticed it between the card numbers and hebrew letters, rarely finding them in the illustrations. A very prominent example is The Emperor, IV/90 => square, or tetrahedron.

@Jim Eshelman said

"

"Bottom line: there is no hexagram on the card, period."

You're quite funny The geometry is emphatically that of a hexagram."

Not so. There is a descending triangle, agreed, but for all I know (and that's not very much) it's mostly about attainment (Adeptus Minor) and descent back into matter from there. But hey, what do I know? I'm not even close to being an adept yet.

Well, I can't see a hexagram here, regardless of how I bend my mind.
Besides, the inner pentagrams wouldn't fit if it was a hexagram.
Also, an important thing to keep in mind is that the journey always goes inwards, which the three pentagrams underline here.
I have found that the hebrew letter/ atu number attributions work best alone, in this case giving the 5=6 formula, instead of pushing it into the image when it's obviously not there.

Bottom line: there is no hexagram on the card, period.

I'll be perfectly honest with you: the Little White Book that comes with the deck covers about the same amount of information as Lon's book does, with exception of the Rosy Cross formula, the Vesica piscis, the color scales, and the astrological attributions. All of which can just be looked up from the internet or 777, as they're quite simple to comprehend. And they're on the cards anyway, so you don't really need a diagram if you're just divining.

Plus, if the OP is serious, he'd dive right into the matter, instead of dabbling around.
Furthermore:
www.bookdepository.com/Understanding-Aleister-Crowleys-Thoth-Tarot-Lon-Milo-DuQuette/9781578632763
350 pages, "Authoritative", "everything you need to know to get the most out of using the Thoth deck."
I feel sick when I see people buying this book. Actually, let me cite you something from the book, just to show you how bad it is, the fragment is about Atu V - The Hierophant:

"The hexagram can be seen enclosing the whole body of the Hierophant."

If you've ever seen the card, you know straight away that this is plain bullpucky. He's not even trying here, and the rest of the books is just as shallow compared to TBOT, which, needless to say, has its flaws, but is the ultimate compendium on the deck nonetheless, provided that one really does study it, instead of reading it once and leaving it be.

I hope I made my point clear here.
Have a good day.

@Al-Shariyf said

"
"I'll be getting "Understanding Aleister Crowley's Thoth Tarot" as soon as I can. Maybe that will shed some light"

That's a great primer if you are brand new to the Thoth Tarot. "

Sorry, I just can't agree with you here. It's an awful piece and anyone claiming otherwise should go and read the Book of Thoth, which is actually not very hard. Demanding, yes, but not hard, and it yields an infinite amount of knowledge more than Lon's book.

I can only say that it's a (pretty alright/mediocre) 101 as far as Tarot basics go. It doesn't bring anything new to the game, and it leaves the majority (over 90%) of the Book of Thoth out, which, in my opinion as an avid Thoth student is quite an awful move.

@Jim Eshelman said

"
@SerpentSeed123 said
"Danica, I'm a Pisces, no doubt about it. Born 1st March 1992 "

Dead in the middle of Aquarius - if one means the real zodiac. Reference:
www.solunars.com/interp/signs/sun.htm"

Jim, I have doubts about this one - I was born on March 28th, this makes me an Aries.
By the link you posted, I ought to be Pisces, however both the standard and the sidereal zodiac sign interpretations fit me more or less perfectly, so I can't really see why one would prefer one over the other. The difference should be even smaller when one casts a full natal chart and compares progressions and transits.
Can you please explain to me why one would be preferred over the other? I don't seem to be able to get a good grasp of how this works.
Also, why the shift in time? Why is Aries last? How does this fit into the Tarot? I always thought the Tarot was based on the Tropical Zodiac and houses, though admittedly, I know almost nothing about astrology.

EDIT:
On second thought I'll go over the Pisces points from my perspective:

"Unfamiliar and vague holds a special attraction for them. Many explorers (need to uncover the mystery). Foreign affairs, if politically motivated. Speculation, gambling."

I am not inclined to gambling very much, however I am an explorer type, so it's true.

"
Wanderlust, restless. Often travels with a purpose (often missionaries, preachers, banner-wavers)."

Yes, I am very impatient, and I do everything for a purpose.

"
Subjective approach to life. Interest in the mystical."

I would argue against having a subjective approach, since I always liked to get the 'truth' out of things, however yes, I do have an interest in the mystical since forever, so let's evaluate that as true.

"“Make a production out of everything.” Flair for dramatization. Actors. Very musical."

Not true, however I am very musical, and I do find that I can't spend a day without music. True again.

"Suave speech – pleasant social address – orators – good teachers (community leaders)."

This is, definitely false. I find it hard to cope with social anxiety and I'm way too impatient to teach. I do make for a good manager, with my Mercury being the strongest planet of them all (on par or even above the Sun, I would say).

"Biasing, deceiving, conning (self and others). “They believe every word that comes out of their own mouths” (Gleadow)."

Not true. I am an honest to gods person, and this is false.

"Shifting loyalties. Strong religious drives, but tends to change religious (or other) affiliations at the drop of a hat. Judas Complex."

Not true.

"Idealists – Visionaries – Romanticists – Dreamers (“Everything will be fine”). Some overcome phenomenally negative chart conditions to self-actualize through personal idealism (or refusing to bother themselves with the problems.)"

Very true, I do idealize everything.

"Sociable, amiable. In search of idealistic relationships. Wants any relationship to be story-bookish; when they finally realize it isn’t, off they go at once."

More or less true.

"Hard to please by intimates; easy to please by non-intimate acquaintances."

Not true.

"Tend to create own problems (conjure psychic demons). Create conditions from which it is difficult to extricate themselves."

Not true, at least in my case - I had such hard problems that anything I could dream to conjure upon myself is just funny in comparison. And no, I don't have any imagination.

"Individualistic front. Actually, they only behave individualistically when selecting a pattern in which to live. PATTERN PEOPLE."

Not true, I tend to be quite chaotic, to say the least, and I am one of the most individualistic people one could meet (without the negative huge ego connotations, of course).

"Striving for predictability. They cast themselves in a specific role then block out all signals or hints that there could possibly be another way, another pattern by which to BE. Difficulty breaking out of negative patterns.
"

I don't really strive to be predictable, however I do have a hard time breaking out of habits.

"Slavery motif. At best, consciously “indentured” to something. At worst, a persistent victim. (Cf. Andromeda near Pisces in the sky.)"

Kind of true, but I haven't seen this in my life much.

"Misoneistic. Traditional (not in a Saturnian way). Snobbish."

Snobbish, yes, the rest doesn't fit.

"Low pain threshold (physical or emotional). Sensitive."

The pain threshold varies on my mood, and I'm not very sensitive as far as emotions/feelings go. False.

"Lean toward high I.Q. – “absorbs knowledge without much difficulty” (Fagan) – good memories for facts."

True.

"Often too deadly serious for their own good. (Obsessive-compulsive if Saturn is strong.) Diluted (“watered-down”) sense of humor."

True.

"Do own jobs effectively and expect others to likewise do their share to “keep the wheels turning.” (Slave motif again.) "

Yes.

"Judgmental, “holier than thou” attitude."

Yes, quite often. And it's quite troubling when I want to downplay myself in social situations.

"They are strong (intense) – you never know strong what, but they are strong (especially women; men less so). Strength is directly proportionate to their emotional attunement."

I will need an elaboration on that. Is that mental, emotional, or physical strength? My willpower is quite great when I am motivated, but otherwise I'm like 'meh' most of the time.

"Strong sex drive, sensuousness. Indulgent. Enjoy good food."

True, but I'm far from being indulgent.

"Alliances and affiliations shift and slide more easily than most. Vested participation in a group or alliance waxes and wanes (rhythmically?)."

Doesn't look like it to me, though I don't know, I would need a second perspective on this.

Well, 13/23 doesn't look like a great success for me, for all I know it could be the Barnum effect at work.

I don't know if I have truly experienced it yet, but I have a bit to say on a feeling which I could characterize with this name.
Ever since I seriously picked up the Great Work, I have more and more often been overcome by a strong feeling of longing (towards my HGA, or the Supernals - I am not able to tell yet), which makes everything else besides the Work irrelevant for me.
It does feel like sorrow, and I in deep regret that I didn't start the Work sooner. I think that's what it is for me, and it's a great motivator to work as hard as I can.

Nothing will happen, besides the yeast growing a bit because of additional sugar.
Also, I am inclined to consider this as a troll post, but for some reason I just think you're being stupid with this one.

@Swamiji said

"Hello, first post here!

Its my experience that there are actually all kinds of asanas. Any posture whatsoever can be an asana; its all about how you hold that posture in the stillness.

93!"

There may be infinite asanas, but you're examined only in one of the four presented in Liber E.

@Wizardiaoan said

" Thus, I think that the idea is that each and every number is the exact same (infinitely small) from the perspective of Nuit - they're points, and she can store a truckload of them easily
The trite is not of Hadit, that which is synonymous with the non-infinite. We as people are the numbers spoken of as separate individuals. So the verse is saying that we are all infinite, there is no difference among us in the supreme state, amongst the continuity of Nuit.
"

Pretty much what I thought - Hadit IS Nuit by virtue of other Hadits.
I may be in the wrong, but to have space manifest (Nuit) you need at least two (2-D) or three (3-D) points, since one point alone is nothing but Kether.
Now, every additional point is going to "stretch" Nuit much like air stretches a baloon (without the popping, though), because one point can never truly reach another. They can run parallel, they can cross orbits, but they're never close enough to be the same, and we need diversity.

Uh, I had a thought going on here, something brilliant (to me), but I just forgot (Something about Nuit manifesting fully in Da'ath which extends to 4-10 or something, I will post it once I remember).
Must be because I just woke up.

@Jim Eshelman said

"It's a step-by-step manual on illumination through laya yoga."

Woah. Seems I will have to go back to my Kundalini work. After I get through asana, which is a pain.
Have to re-read it a few dozen times now to make sure I understand it.

Thelema is so much fun.

I was wondering how it fits into Thelema.
I remember Crowley somewhere putting it off as incoherent, and a mix of way too many metaphors and legends. Not sure about the precise quote, though.

dknigh93, you have step by step instructions on building rituals in Liber O. Just do that, and use sex as the engine of it.
At least that is the way I do it.
Also, Energized Enthusiasm, Liber 811. A good read.