David Shoemaker - Living Thelema: A Practical Guide to Attainment in Aleister Crowleys System of Magick

Published in 2013 by

Anima Solis Books

P.O. Box 215483

Sacramento, California 95821, USA

www.livingthelema.com

The Living Thelema name and all associated content is

2013 David Shoemaker

All Rights Reserved.

Printed in the United States of America.

Phyllis Seckler material 2013 The International College of Thelema

www.intcot.org

Aleister Crowley material 2013 Ordo Templi Orientis

Cover design by Frater Julianus

Illustrations 2013 Thomas Nelson Stewart IV

Solve et Coagula Design

www.solve-et-coagula.us/design.php

ISBN: 0989384411

ISBN-13: 978-0-9893844-1-4

ISBN:9780989384407

Unto Thee, my Lord .,

This kiss,

This soul,

This heart!

Thou shalt mingle thy life with the universal life.

-Liber Cheth vel Vallum Abiegni

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to thank my wife Anna and my son Andrew, for their love and support, and for tolerating the many hours I was absent as I worked on this material. Thanks also to my parents, my sisters, and my extended family, for a lifetime of support and encouragement. I am sure I have not expressed my appreciation for your presence in my life nearly enough. To my spiritual forebears in A..A.., Soror Meral, Soror Estai, Frater Saturnus, and Frater To Mega TherionI owe much gratitude for even being allowed to dip my toes into the current of wisdom they initiated and nurtured over many decades. Special thanks to my students, for teaching me so much every single time we interact. I hope that in return, I have given you some measure of sustenance for your spiritual journey.

Finally, I wish to acknowledge the following for their support, encouragement, wisdom, and friendship across the years: Lon Milo DuQuette, Richard Kaczynski, Craig Berry, Frater Sabazius, Soror Helena, Frater Puck, Howard and Amy Wuelfing, Kim Knight, Geoff Leibinger, Robie Schriber, Vere and Lita Chappell, James Fairman, Robert Fripp, Joseph Thiebes, Frater IAO131, Anna-Kria King, James Eshelman, Andrew Ferrell, Gregory Peters, Joseph Larabell, Frater Sohum, Robbi Robb, Charlotte Moore, Monika Mayer-Kielmann, and Edward Mason.

For technical support on this project, many thanks go to: Frater Julianus, for the beautiful cover design; Thomas Stewart, for his detailed illustrations; Kelli Patton, Britta Cox, Monika Mayer-Kielmann, and Thomas Stewart, for transcription assistance; John G. Bell, for all manner of online support; and Charlotte Moore, Frater IAO131, and Anna Tsu, for proofreading and editorial suggestions.

INTRODUCTION

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

Looking back over the past 20 years of my involvement with Thelema, I have often reflected on what exactly drew me to the Great Work. Life is simpler (at least superficially) without all the self-discipline required of initiates, and one can easily find a spiritual path with more cultural acceptance and societal support mechanisms. Theres a church, mosque, ashram, and new age guru on practically every block in todays world, but I had a pretty tall order for any spiritual system: Give me wonder and mystery, but dont make me check my brain at the door!

This spiritual and intellectual dilemma was more-or-less foreordained for me. My father was an atheist philosophy professor, while my mother was a musician and theologian from a deeply religious upbringing. I had to make sense of this somehowto find a way to reconcile these divergent worldviews and appreciate the positive contributions each perspective had brought to my life. Luckily, my parents were both open-minded enough to give me space to find my own answers.

After graduating from college as a psychology major, I set off for graduate school to become a psychotherapist. I learned all about the mainstream cognitive-behavioral approaches to therapy, but the work of Carl Jung and other so-called depth psychologists was always tugging at my sleeve. After a few years of exploration, I stumbled upon the work of Israel Regardie and, shortly thereafter, Aleister Crowley and Thelema. I had finally found the solution to my spiritual dilemma. Here was a path of passion, devotion, mystery and transcendence; yet it was to be executed with scientific rigor and a healthy dose of skepticism. The Method of Science, The Aim of Religion. Here I could unify the best parts of the divergent perspectives my parents had shown to me into a coherent whole, and forge a path uniquely my own. I immediately set about contacting all the Thelemic groups I could find in those preinternet days, and in the fall of 1993 my journey into initiation formally began. I joined Ordo Templi Orientis, and I committed myself to the student path of A..A...

Before long, I found myself in the position of assisting in the training of more junior initiates, reviewing their assignments, teaching and testing them on various magical techniques, and evaluating their diaries. I moved to California and began to work under the direct tutelage of Phyllis Seckler (Soror Meral). Within a few months, I had advanced to various administrative positions in the orders with which I was working, and was spending about as much time with my magical pursuits as my day job. I have seen several generations of students succeed and fail, and entire magical orders come and go. I have consulted with students on the mechanics of ritual, as well as the triumphs and tragedies of their personal lives. In writing this book, it is my hope that I can communicate the insights Ive gained over the past twenty years, as Ive witnessed the day-to-day strivings of modern magical aspirants. I have learned from experience what works and what doesnt, and the pitfalls that face seekers in our tradition.

I have designed this book to be a useful reference at every stage of the path. Once youve read the source materials from Crowley and others, you should be able to pick up this book and get valuable advice on how best to execute those source materials, whatever your level of experience. Beginning students can learn how to get the most out of basic rituals like Liber Resh , and how to understand concepts like the True Will; while intermediate and advanced magicians can get helpful advice on pursuing the deeper work of A..A.., and discover ways to enrich their existing practice with new perspectives on the foundational materials.

How to Use this Book

This book is not intended to be a comprehensive survey of all the concepts and practices of the Thelemic path of attainment. Rather, I have chosen those topics where I felt there was the greatest need for practical commentary, and where I could offer a unique perspective on the material. I certainly have no illusions that my take on all these topics is the best or the only way to think about them. Accordingly, I encourage you to approach everything in this book with your critical thinking skills fully engaged, and with an attitude of balanced skepticism.

I am assuming that the reader has a basic grounding in the fundamental principles and commonly used terms relevant to the Thelemic worldview. I am also assuming that you will have copies (printed or online) of the relevant source texts available. Rituals and other instructions will not usually be reprinted in full. Please refer to the multimedia resources available at livingthelema.com and the Living Thelema YouTube channel for demonstrations and additional instruction.