#liber al vel legis

[maeviuslynn]

Beautiful illuminated pages of the Book of the Law by Steffi Grant. These pages are found in the Ninth Arch by Kenneth Grant.

[alephskoteinos]

I remember a decade ago having some pretty misguided opinions about Crowley and Thelema.

Now I actually have a copy of The Book of the Law.

[gorgongrrlfriend]

The Sun, Strength & Sight, Light; these are for the servants of the Star & the Snake. - AL II:21

[satanicdomme666]

[upyrica]

"Every event is a uniting of some one monad with one of the experiences possible to it. “Every man and every woman is a star,” that is, an aggregate of such experiences, constantly changing with each fresh event, which affects him or her either consciously or subconsciously. Each one of us has thus an universe of his own, but it is the same universe for each one as soon as it includes all possible experience. This implies the extension of consciousness to include all other consciousness. In our present stage, the object that you see is never the same as the one that I see; we infer that it is the same because your experience tallies with mine on so many points that the actual differences of our observation are negligible. For instance, if a friend is walking between us, you see only his left side, I his right; but we agree that it is the same man, although we may differ not only as to what we may see of his body but as to what we know of his qualities. This conviction of identity grows stronger as we see him more often and get to know him better. Yet all the time neither of us can know anything of him at all beyond the total impression made on our respective minds." - Liber AL vel Legis

[tracyorama]

Unity uttermost showed!

I adore the might of Thy breath,

Supreme and terrible God,

Who makest the gods and death

To tremble before Thee: --

I, I adore thee!

[hijodelagua]

Portada Liber AL vel Legis, edición especial anotada, cubierta.

Liber AL vel Legis annotated special edition, cover art.

Amazon Spain:

Amazon US:

[sandalstrapchronicles]

She Showed Me In The Desert

Where Forever Winds Wrote Her Name In The Sands

couplet and digital abstract by jkekatos Dec 1999

[scarletvisions]

Per i tre giorni di Scrittura del Libro della Legge

Cari Fratelli, ho pensato che potesse essere interessante condividere con voi tutti delle pratiche che osserverò durante la Celebrazione dei tre giorni di scrittura del Libro della Legge. Non si tratta di niente di speciale ma lo trovo un modo per riaccendere la fiamma della devozione che può essere associata al Bhaktiyoga, tramite delle pratiche di concentrazione e meditazione proverò a…

[sandalstrapchronicles]

THE AXLE MOVETH NOT: ATTAIN THOU THAT.

[maeviuslynn]

The Book of the Law Liber AL vel Legis

[alephskoteinos]

I am the Snake that giveth Knowledge & Delight and bright glory, and stir the hearts of men with drunkenness. To worship me take wine and strange drugs whereof I will tell my prophet, & be drunk thereof! They shall not harm ye at all. It is a lie, this folly against self. The exposure of innocence is a lie. Be strong, o man! lust, enjoy all things of sense and rapture: fear not that any God shall deny thee for this.

- Aleister Crowley, Liber Al Vel Legis II:22

[talonabraxas]

Ave Babalon! The Scarlet Woman Talon Abraxas

“Invoke me under my stars! Love is the law, love under will. Nor let the fools mistake love; for there are love and love. There is the dove, and there is the serpent. Choose ye well! He, my prophet, hath chosen, knowing the law of the fortress, and the great mystery of the House of God.” – Liber Al vel Legis I:57

[gladstones-corner]

On the Nature of the True Will

"Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law." 

– Liber AL vel Legis, Book 1, Verse 40 

This is one of those posts where I'll ask that you bear with me, as it will be more opinionated than my standard fare. 

Please understand that my goal isn't to force my viewpoint; it's to share my observations and contribute to the conversation. 

Let’s dive in. 

So where do we start? 

I suppose a good place would be with Crowley. After all, he made famous the phrase "True Will"--though he wasn't the inventor of the concept. That would arguably be Socrates, who attributed his actions to a "personal daemon" or "internal oracle". But that's another post.

Crowley uses the word "Will" as the nearest English translation of the Greek Θέλημα (pronounced Thelema). In the Christian New Testament, Θέλημα is most often used with respect to the Will of God (such as in the phrase θέλημα τοῦ Θεοῦ [Thelema Tou Theou]). Knowing Crowley's familiarity with Jewish and Christian holy texts, we can infer that this usage is intentional; it aligns the tradition's very philosophy with the concept of a Divine Will.

But what does the Divine Will mean, if magicians can be anything on the religious spectrum? Generally speaking, Divine Will doesn't necessarily mean that an external deity has a vested personal interest in your fate and has sealed it in stone. No; rather, the True Will--the Θέλημα--is your niche in the universe. Billions of years of evolution have led to you, and you have a role to play in the grand scheme.

Does this make Θέλημα a deterministic reality? Not necessarily. In Liber Librae, Crowley writes: "A man is what he maketh himself within the limits fixed by his inherited destiny." In my opinion, this means that you are free to realize your role in the universe however you choose, including the choice to ignore it completely.

What happens if you ignore your Θέλημα? Considering that achieving it would lead to greater harmony and peace, we can speculate that ignoring it would lead to greater discord and strife.

Does this mean that all suffering is due to ignoring your Θέλημα? Absolutely not. Crowley again writes in Liber Librae: "Thou then, who hast trials and troubles, rejoice because of them, for in them is Strength, and by their means is a pathway opened unto that Light."

This goes deeper than just "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger". This is an exhortation to approach suffering differently. It is painful, yes. It is unavoidable, yes. But to change our attitudes towards this suffering will prevent that suffering from being more than it is on its own.

Keen eyes may recognize this as one of two approaches:

Therapeutic methods such as CBT/DBT

Eastern traditions such as Buddhism

So there's evidence there that Crowley was on to something, even if his execution is reflective of the relatively primitive understanding of Western psychology at the time.

Okay, so we've covered that the True Will is your personal niche in the universe, that you still have free will despite this, and the benefits of approaching suffering with your True Will in mind.

But what he haven't covered is how to follow your True Will--how to discover it, how to cultivate it, and how to embody it.

Unfortunately there isn't really a hard and fast rule to following your True Will. But it can help to remember a couple of things. First, you can think of your True Will as being made of two complementary parts:

The Life's Purpose

The Moment's Action

In a balanced magician, these are symbiotic. The Life's Purpose drives the Moment's Action, and the Moment's Action realizes the Life's Purpose. In an unbalanced magician, most often the Moment's Action is driven by an unchecked Ego; the Life's Purpose goes unknown or otherwise unfulfilled.

This implies a certain level of mindfulness required to achieve the True Will. Your actions, moment to moment, should be guided by your life's purpose. That purpose is something only you can discover, but in Thelemic thought that purpose should be supported by a universal, unconditional love for all beings.

Easier said than done, but I think taking a moment to think compassionately before reacting to the world around you is critical. It's extremely difficult, but the potential for positive change is huge.

Just remember that "Love is the Law, Love under Will."

Stay safe. Blessed be~

[oldmanontumbler]

Ask Game: List 5 things that make you happy, then put this in the askbox for the last 10 people who reblogged something from you! get to know your mutuals and followers (>w<) <3

I KNOW this is a copy-pasted thing, because Inside The Skin of the Sun would never, ever go (>w<), even if they were held at gunpoint :P

Five Things That Make This Old Man Happy!

Special interests finally blooming again!!!!!!! Right now, it's a mix of Judaism, Jewish and Western Kabbalah, western occult in general, and renowned eccentric bisexual mountain-climber Aleister Crowley. <- I'm doing a very good job of hiding that interest from all of you. I'm the Spymaster 100 (Not sure if that's a real guy)

Projects based off of said special interests. I love where my searches have taken me. I'm reading one chapter of Liber AL vel Legis a day from April 8th to April 10th, and when I'm done, I'm gonna open a Google Doc and reread it, dissecting every little line. I'm set up to read some of Jorge Luis Borges's more religious leaning texts. I'm making the Kabbalistic Tree of Life in Minecraft, with appearance based off of Liber 777's Table of Correspondences and also my own learnings about each number and letter, and what they mean. I am thriving.

Various beverages. I love beverages. Shout-out to flat water, carbonated water, flavoured water, plain milk, flavoured milk, apple juice, fruit punch, fruit tea, herbal tea, other tea, blood (from accidental cuts - my own, don't worry), those drinks infused with electrolytes, boba drinks, and the occasional soda, if I'm feeling salacious. (I don't drink much alcohol - medicine and stuff - but also shout-out to alcohol. And to sparkling "kids' champagne!")

Jewelry making. I've gotten back into it, and I love it so much. The process of choosing the beads, the rhythmical stringing, the sorting, the watching art bloom under your hands... >///<

Intense, soul-grabbing artwork on Tumbler dot com, which I can then reblog and keep forever. ♡

Last ten people, eh? This'll take a while, but since none are free from my wrath, prepare to answer questions!!!!!!!

Edit: I went with last *five* people instead. Best not to overwhelm the Tumbler populace ♡