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Thelemites must accept aeonic history?

To: alt.magick.tyagi
From: tyagi@houseofkaos.abyss.com (mordred)
Subject: Re: Thelemites must accept aeonic history? (was: toxic)
Date: 6 Feb 1995 19:34:18 -0800

[from alt.magick: jsidwetz@alpha1.csd.uwm.edu (Joshua S Wetzel)]

Tim Maroney (tim@toad.com) wrote:
: jsidwetz@alpha1.csd.uwm.edu (Joshua S Wetzel) writes:
: >: >the Aeons are in constant change. (For the Thelemites out there - the Aeon
: >: >of Isis never ended [take a closer look at the history of the virgin and
: >: >the child imagry], neither did the Aeon of Osiris, Crowley declared the
: >: >beginning of the Aeon of Horus, Fra. Achad that of Maat, all four are now
: >: >functioning co-currently!)

: Tim Maroney (tim@toad.com) wrote:
: >: I object to your implication that Thelemites necessarily accept Crowley's
: >: plainly specious aeonic model of history.

: jsidwetz@alpha1.csd.uwm.edu (Joshua S Wetzel) writes:
: >Mr. Maroney. - I said that Crowley "declared the beginning of the Aeon of
: >Horus" - being a thelemite means, in case you've forgotten, accepting the
: >teachings of Thelema - "The Book of the Law"

: That is incorrect.  The term predates Crowley by centuries and has a
: meaning which is independent of Liber AL.  It refers in a literary
: sense to the fictional inhabitants of the Abbey of Theleme in Rabelais,
: and by extension to all those persons who possess the qualities of
: character which the Thelemites symbolized: the cultivation of inner
: qualities which predispose automatically toward virtue, as opposed to
: seeking virtue by following a set of rules and commandments.

: There is a more recent definition of Thelemite which has the dogmatic
: meaning which you suggest, but it is much less well known in the world
: at large (as opposed to the cloisters of occultism) and it is to a
: great extent at odds with the original definition.  Since you are
: referring to members of a religious movement, I suggest that you should
: instead use the "-ist" suffix which ordinarily denotes ideological
: affiliation, yielding the word "Thelemist".

: It is of course possible to be both a Thelemist and a Thelemite.
: However, most Thelemists are not Thelemites, since they are looking for
: virtue from an external system rather than within themselves; and most
: Thelemites are not Thelemists, since they have never even heard of
: Crowley's work (or the work of Rabelais, for that matter).

: >If you beleive that A.
: >Crowley was wrong with regard to Aeonic paradigms fine well and good, but
: >technically you are not a "true thelemite" (dogmatically speaking).
: >Thelema excludes magick working in any other paradigm except Crowley's
: >Aeon of Horus.

: I must have missed the announcement of your appointment to determine
: who is or is not a "true thelemite, dogmatically speaking."  I was
: under the impression that Thelemists were only obliged to have some
: idea that the Book of the Law was an emanation of higher intelligence,
: possibly distorted by transmission through Crowley; I have never heard
: that his commentaries were dogmatic.

: The "aeon of Horus" is an innovation of the commentaries, not a
: necessary interpretation of the Book itself.  The whole basis of the
: idea lies in one verse which ambiguously alludes to Golden Dawn Equinox
: ceremonies, a verse which is susceptible to numerous other and contrary
: interpretations.  It is even possible to disregard the verse altogether
: as a garbling of the transmission, an editorial interpolation from
: Crowley's unconscious mind, as many Thelemists disregard other verses
: and themes.  None of these interpretations would disqualify one as a
: Thelemist.

: In short, even for those who "accept the Book of the Law", it is by no
: means necessary to accept Crowley's aeonic model of history, and some
: do not.  For a Thelemite in the better-known sense of the word, it is
: not even necessary to have an opinion on the matter, and most do not.
: -- 
: Tim Maroney.  Please CC all public responses to tim@toad.com.
Mr. Maroney:
	Thanks for the clarification. As I understood it the concept of the
"Abbey of Thelema" and "Do what thou wilt" did predate Crowley, in works of
fiction. I sincerly hope that thelemites or for that matter thelemists arn't
actually claiming, as I understand you are, a history before "The Book of
the Law". Since the existance of the abbey was fictitious so too would be
any organization based apon the illusionary abbey's existance.
	I'm happy to hear that most thelemites consider themselves to be
open-minded individuals.
				Josh.
p.s. If the Abbey of Thelema actually existed feel free to correct me.				

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