Thelema Magick Explained: Thelema Magick Overview, Aliester Crowley, Rituals, Daily Magickal Regimen, Elemental Tools, Phases of Ritual, Discover True ... More! Thelema Magick Guide for Beginners

by Riley Star

This book is about giving you the brief overview of Thelema Magick and its principle based from Aleister Crowley. He is one of the most important figures of magick and occultism. Crowley’s teaching is focused on finding one’s true will, which he believed is something that stems out from one’s core being; thus defining one’s true nature, path, your true calling or purpose – is instrumental in knowing your true self. This is what we want to accomplish in this book. We want to show you the philosophical side based from Crowley’s teachings, and also state in plain layman’s term about the nature of finding one’s will, and perhaps provide some practical guidance on how to approach such undertaking so that you can have a glimpse of what this subject is all about, and learn to use it in your daily lives. Thelema Magick Overview, Aliester Crowley, Basics Rituals, Daily Magickal Regimen, Elemental Tools, Phases of Magickal Rituals, How to Discover One’s True Will and More!

90 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 28, 2018

About the author

Riley Star is a solitary practitioner of the Wiccan religion and employee of a metaphysical bookstore.

Reviews

[Keith · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is fairly awful. For starters, an introduction to Thelema written by a solitary-practice Wiccan is roughly analogous to an introduction to Christianity written by a person who identifies as Muslim simply because they read a bunch of books by Arberry and Nurbakhsh and enjoy the poetry of Rumi, and is about equally useful. It's not as if there aren't any actual Thelemites writing introductory texts; to the contrary, complaints are often heard regarding a glut in that market. But this particular one gets worse.

To be specific, twice in the first two paragraphs we find reference to the "phrase 'thou wilt shall be the whole of the law'". Now it should be obvious to most ordinary speakers of English with even passing familiarity with the "biblical" form of the language, let alone any editor worthy of the appellation, that this is not grammatical. Moreover, there is no more well-documented or famous quote from Crowley than "Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law" ( Liber AL , I:40). With a verb. And a capital L. On the other hand, at least the author immediately clarifies the difference between this maxim and "doing whatever one wants," so I'll add a star back in for being merely awful instead of completely wrong.

The text then goes on to complain that "There are lots of self-professed Thelemites as well as experienced ones that aren't able to fully explain what the will is when they are being asked" and claims the intent to "state in plain layman's term about the nature of finding one's will," stating that "one's true will refers to a person's purpose in life" and "true will is about matching your natural talents and core being with what the universe need."

If one has not been driven mad by the grammar and the utter disdain for agreement in tense or number, many "self-professed Thelemites as well as experienced ones" will note that, while the analysis in this opening section is not outright wrong, it does ignore (or, more likely, is entirely unaware of) several key facts. Firstly, that people "aren't able to fully explain what the will is" results from the fact that this is impossible. Will in Thelema is held to be the deepest question of one's existence. It is axiomatic that I will have enough difficulty figuring out what my own Will is; it is virtually impossible, bordering on forbidden, for me to tell you what your Will is. Secondly, The Book of Lies makes clear that any attempt to "state in plain layman's term[s] the nature of […] one's will," is automatically wrong, and at best an approximation. Thirdly, Liber AL states, "For pure will, unassuaged of purpose, delivered from the lust of result, is every way perfect." (my emphasis) This entirely contradicts the contention that "one's true will refers to a person's purpose in life".

Now, like I said, the author is not entirely wrong here, and it is not too difficult to find any number of soi-dissant Thelemites who would agree with the general principles. The text remains, however, ill-informed and woefully incomplete. This could, perhaps, be a reasonable place for a Wiccan who wonders "What's all this Thelema stuff, anyway?" to start to get some answers. However, anyone looking for an actual introduction to Thelema would do far better to turn to a book written by an actual Thelemite, and perhaps one who knows how to write in proper English and maybe even had the benefit of actual editors. Here are several such options currently in print:

• Understanding Aleister Crowley's Thoth Tarot (Part One of which is the best "introduction to Thelema" I've ever read, in 80 pages)
• The Weiser Concise Guide to Aleister Crowley
• The Magick of Aleister Crowley: A Handbook of the Rituals of Thelema
• Living Thelema: A Practical Guide to Attainment in Aleister Crowley's System of Magick
• Abrahadabra: Understanding Aleister Crowley's Thelemic Magick
• The Law of Thelema: Aleister Crowley's Philosophy of True Will

[Rex · Rating 4 out of 5]

Decent beginner's intro

This is a decent chapbook as it's quite small. My only two criticisms of it is that it needs some editing as there are grammatical errors, at least with the Kindle version and there is no bibliography. The author did include a very scant reference list but a bibliography would have been much more useful to the beginning Thelemic aspirant on his path. The highlights of this book is that author explains everything in clear and concise language and gives some good advice on meditational exercises to start off with. He mentions the LBRP, Middle Pillar, and BRH but was surprised he didn't mention doing will at mealtimes or the star ruby or liner resh. Still, this little book will come in handy for those wanting to get some idea of what Thelema and doing one's true will is all about.

[Dodie]

This book the author is giving her own perspective but is not a thelemite. She talks about the thelema’s philosophy. She talks about four stages and rituals you might start of with. Learn how to relax your body and mind. The LBRP, The Middle Pillar and the a lesser ritual of the hexagram.

You are learning on how to talk to your unconscious mind. Daily practices are important which is discused. This is just a simple and straightforward examination of Thelma.

[Austin Durgan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really cool stuff and what not