Monday, February 25, 2008

What makes Thelema unique?

What makes Thelema unique in...

Religion
  • Sin & shame - There is no Original Sin, there is no Fall of man - we are born free & pure in an act of love & joy; there is therefore no reason for guilt, shame, or veiling of one's inclinations in any way
  • Suffering is not ignored, avoided, or extirpated, but rather it is embraced whole-heartedly as one facet of Nature; all things have their complement, our notion of darkness balanced by that of light, and we may 'conquer' this by transcending opposites in Love (the result of which is Unity or '0'). 
  • Naturalism - its acceptance of all things in Nature, especially the natural facts of power (overcoming), love (union), and the necessity of both 'good' & 'bad.'
  • Self-centered  - let us not be ashamed of it, our philosophy is based on the self (but what does that mysterious word mean to you?), There is no law beyond Do what thou wilt. 
  • Purpose of rituals & feasts - rituals have the purpose of K&C of HGA (Union with God/union of Microcosm & Macrocosm/Samadhi/satori/Nirvana, etc.) but also simply to build up energy of various sorts; feasts are for the dispersal or releasing of energy for joy & gratitude

Philosophy
  • Dialectical monism - the scheme of creation (division) and destruction (union) espoused by Nuit in Liber AL I:28-30, "None... and two. For I am divided for love's sake, for the chance of union. This is the creation of the world, that the pain of division is as nothing, and the joy of dissolution all;" This 'none' is 'one' with a ' better' (more effective insofar as One commonly denotes a limit, and/or posits a Not-One) name, and it may only manifest in terms of 'two'
  • Pantheism - God = All = Nature = Universe

Ethics
  • Amorality - Beyond good & evil there is the freedom of following one's natural Way
  • Suprarationality - the ethics of Thelema explicitly attack reason as "a lie; for there is a factor infinite & unknown; & all their words are skew-wise."

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