Thelema, the new revelation of Egypt

[Hatikvah]

You probably know that there are various religions and beliefs, whether revivals of old ones or uniquely separate, that belong to the gods of the past. Examples would be Druidism (Celtic), Asatru (Norse/Germanic), Hellenismos (Greek), and others. We have some religions which are not necessarily as theism-centered such as Wicca and those whose practices vary more than others, usually by a lot.

Thelema is unique because it has one revealed book, a religious canon and defined deities. Thelema literally means “will” or “intention” in Greek because of its philosophy. (Magick means occultic magic in Thelema, while magic has the connotation of stage magic.)

Aleister Crowley was born in 1875 to a wealthy Christian family in England. He took an interest in the occult, experimenting with Kabbalah and eventually settling on the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. Crowley lost interest magick in 1901. On a honeymoon with his new wife, Crowley stayed in Egypt, being an amateur Egyptologist. His interest in the occult was revived at once, and he wanted to show his wife the air spirits (Sylphs). The account goes as such:

She saw nothing, but began telling him that “they are waiting for you” and something about “a child.” The next day she continues, so he invokes [the Egyptian god] Thoth to make sense of it. On the 18th [of March], she realizes that Horus is speaking through her…

The voice was later identified as Aiwass. Crowley took his wife to a museum in Cairo and she pointed out which figure Horus was on a funerary tablet numbered 666, an important Thelemite number. Two days later, Crowley successfully invoked the god Horus:

[Crowley] was then informed that he was to enter the “Temple” on April 8, 9, and 10 at exactly noon and write down what he heard for one hour.

Luckily, Aleister Crowley was a writer, and we have his words preserved in his book Magick (p. 435):

The Voice of Aiwass came apparently from over my left shoulder, from the furthest corner of the room… I had a strong impression that the speaker was actually in the corner where he seemed to be… The dress was not Arab; it suggested Assyria or Persia, but very vaguely. I took little note of it, for to me at that time Aiwass and an “angel” such as I had often seen in visions, a being purely astral.

I now incline to believe that Aiwass is not only the God or Demon or Devil once held holy in Sumer, and mine own Guardian Angel, but also a man as I am, insofar as He uses a human body to make His magical link with Mankind, whom He loves, and that He is thus and Ipsissimus, the Head of the A.’.A.’. [Source and full copy]

The secretive book that Aleister would eventually receive is called the Book of the Law, divided into three chapters. This book gave followers of Thelema two principal laws, the only ones in Thelema:

• “Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law” (AL I:40)
• “Love is the law, love under will” (AL I:57)

Thelema, in addition to its claim to revelation from the divine (again, unique to newer religions based on the “old” gods), has deities largely based off of the ancient Egyptian religion. Yet, Thelema shares a lot in common with other religions of its orientation in the magickal world, particularly in its practical diversity. Beyond the facts of the two principal laws above, there is nothing universally agreed upon!

If you want to do further reading, this is one about the Book of the Law, and here is a secular one about Thelema in general.