Thoughts on Thelema

Ethics

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 15:43:00 +0000

When given situations such as these, the answers are more often felt, rather than thought out.

In movies and on TV shows, the villain will often be a character who knows they are bad and revels in it. They love being thought of as evil and will sometimes do horrible things just to live up to the persona.

From my experience, real life doesn't work that way. I've yet to meet, or even hear of, someone that really belives this. I've known people from all walks of life, many have jobs or pass times that others would frown upon. Some have done things that many people would think wrong, but they didn't think of themselves as bad and as far as they were concirned, had good reasons for doing their will.

In the book Story: Substance, Structure, Style and the Principles of Screenwriting by Robert McKee, the author talks about a personal experience to show character motivations. It also illustrates my point perfectly.

I once joined a gym in Manhattan not knowing it was a mafia hangout and met an amusing, likeable guy whose nickname was Mr. Coney Island, a title he’d won as a bodybuilder in his teens. Now, however, he was a ”button man.“ ”To button up“ means to shut up. A button man ”puts the button on“ or shuts people up. . . forever. One day in the steam room he sat down and said, ”Hey, Bob, tell me something. Are you one of the ‘good’ people?“ In other words, did I belong to the mob?
Mafia logic runs like this: ”People want prostitution, narcotics, and illicit gambling. When they’re in trouble, they want to bribe police and judges. They want to taste the fruits of crime, but they’re lying hypocrites and won’t admit it. We deal in realities. We are the ‘good’ people.’ Mr Coney Island was a conscienceless assassin, but inside he was convinced he was good.

So while many judge that sort of person as evil, they themselves do not. They also judge the people around them by their own values. This paints a very different picture of the world.

With no consensus on what is good and evil it isn’t possible to eradicate the latter to leave the world full of the former. I've yet to hear a convincing argument for a balance between the two either. Though many have tried.

What is needed are new classifications. I submit Selfish and Selfless. Selfish and Selfless acts can be balanced and an argument can be made for balancing them. If someone was completely Selfless, they'd never eat, while someone completely Selfish would be vial untrustworthy wretch.

A wide spectrum exists between these two extremes. While each person may choose their location on spectrum by adjusting their actions. It becomes more difficult to cause those around grief and pain, then justify it in some righteous name of good. Rather a person must acknowledge the selfishness of their deeds and either adjust their self image or make emends.

Careful consideration and honest reflection is needed when assessing ones own actions in this way. Without knowing a person’s inner most thoughts, the actions of others can be impossible to judge. However attempting both will at the very least cause greater reflection on both the internal and external.

Levels and Layers

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 01 Apr 2007 21:03:00 +0000

I was once told that many people who practice it, think that astral projection is a superior method of movement. It's not, I was told, it's just more subtle.

We see hierarchy where there is none. I've seen this in many walks of life.

Jack may only know enough about computers to start a program, use it, print, then close it down. Jill may be able write the program that Jack used. If you only want directions to the nearest cinema, Jack and Jill are in the same place.

With a shift of weight, it's possible to have a lesser opponent, move their guard, clearing the way for a killing blow. However, should a drunk in a bar, mistake a low cut top for an invitation. A kick in the groin may be all that's required.

Achieving ones will can be looked at in a similar fashion. There are those that have a Machiavellian approach to fulfilling their will. Others have a far more direct approach. Others still, use goetic, enochian and other forms of magick to achieve their will.

Method is important. It's value is in it's chance of success. Those preoccupied with a snobbery regarding different methods of achieving one's will have lost their way. It's easy to get caught up in these distractions and it can be satisfying to silence critics. There is nothing wrong with performing work with a sense of style, just as long as the result is never jeopardised for it.

...but not forgotten

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 08 Feb 2007 13:52:00 +0000

It's been a long time since I've posted on this blog, but I haven't forgotten about it. I've been drafting articles on a few different subjects. However, due to world events each one of my posts has descended into a political rant and I don't want this blog to be about politics. As with their religion, peoples' political beliefs can't be changed though argument. All sides in a political debate make their case, then it's up to each person to choose who they believe. This blog is to share my thought on Thelema, with those that are interested, not to join or comment on that debate.

Thelema Every Day

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 26 Jun 2006 20:05:00 +0000

I was listening to a Thelemic podcast recently and I heard a comment that I found surprising. It was that a lot of people join Thelemic organisations to escape real life and the judgment of others. This strikes me a rather unthelemic. Surely a Thelemite should be spending his or her energy on creating a life that they don't want to escape?

When I first discovered Thelema, I thought I'd found what every successful CEO was reading. I knew the values I had been taught in school hadn't equipped me to be successful. I was given the usual, 'follow-my-leader' and 'it's the taking part that counts' philosophy. So to find something so different, with so many possibilities, where the power to control your life is within you, was wonderful. I can see the comfort in blaming God/Fate/The Stars when things go wrong, but for me, Thelema is having the buck stop with me. Which is more than worth the knowledge that my possibilities are as endless as I make them.

Not everyone wants to be a CEO. Some people may prefer to be an artist or a really good parent. My point is, when I first found Thelema, I thought I'd found what most people, who excel at what they've devoted their life to, were using as a reference. Unfortunately, I've yet to see any evidence of that and the podcast seems to suggest that contrary may be true.

It can be difficult to understand one's true will, but leaving one's self in an unpleasant situation while working to understand that seems a strange choice. Not everyone can get themselves into a great situation, and that there are some things that stop life being wonderful, but I don't see how Thelema works as an escape from that. Is Thelema not telling you to go and look for other ways of resolving whatever is standing in the way of your will?

I'd Like To Thank Harry Potter

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 27 May 2006 19:25:00 +0000

I love the fact that we have a whole generation of children who are hearing stories of magic. Now I'm sure most, if not all children in recent history were told fairy stories, that include witches, wizards, magic curses and the like. However I feel there's a difference with the Potter serise. For one, children are all hearing the same story. This gives them a commen language and commen ideas, I think that allows for more descussion and allows for more ideas to be exchanged. The other important difference is that a large part of the books is a focus on the wonder, power and danger of magic.

Now, obvously the way magic is depiceted in the books is not really what they are going to find later in life, should they look, but with all the children reading the books, there's a good chance that some of them will look. Not all of them will find their way to Thelema, or even the occult, but some will and of those, some won't like what they find, others will.

Of those that don't, if the stories leave them with a sense that the powers of the universe exist within themselves and not within the book or those that claim to represent it, then we will hopfully be left with a few less sheep, looking for shepherds.

Why am I here?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 10 May 2006 21:49:00 +0000

While I'd love to understand why, in the grander sense, I'm here in the universe, I'll start by talking about why I'm writing this blog. Although I might explore the former question in a later post.

The main reason for this blog is that I want somewhere I can record my thoughts on how the many different things I see around me relate to Thelema. It's one thing to describe something in large, vague terms, but relating that to day to day life is a different task and one I am going to attempt here. By writing my thoughts down here, I hope to be able to revisit them and see contradictions when they occur. That will force me to rethink certain trains of thought and ideas, but if they are floored, that can only be a good thing.

Another reason for this blog is that as I travel around with work and for pleasure and I get to meet people from all over, I get to see things from a different point of view and hear other sides of the same story. One of the advantaged of travelling with work is you have no choice but to get to know the people native to your destination. I also enjoy seeking out advice others may have, even if I don't then choose to follow it. Many of people I meet have wise words to share. So I thought it would be good to note what I find and hear, for myself and others.

Then lastly, as I travel, I also like to note the way I can be the other side of the world, in a culture very different from mine and yet see things so familiar to me. It reminds me how universal some things are. So as I note my observations, I'll add my own thoughts as well.

From these notes, I hope to be able to build useful essays, but for now I'll start by taking notes.

Keep Your Worlds Separate

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 25 Apr 2006 08:07:00 +0000

A very wise person once said this to me. He told me it was a quote and who said it. Unfortunately I've forgotten who and a google search has revealed nothing. This is one of the things I want to keep in mind as I start this blog. So I don't want to link it with my others. I'm not ashamed of being a Thelemite, I just like to choose who knows and who doesn't. As blogs and the like, gain in popularity, I can see a time when it's a normal part of an interview process to check out a person's blog. If and when that becomes common practice, I'd prefer it's not this blog they find. So for that reason, my first task is to try and strip out the generic info about me that gets put in the template. So here goes...

...Well that didn't seem like too much of a task, which probably means I missed something, but I can correct it as I go. It's Jo public I'm looking to keep this from, not someone who's determined to track me down, I think using this forum make that task pretty simple.

So where was I.... Keep you worlds separate... Yes, this was advice given to me, nearly 10 years ago, by the first thelemite I ever met and probably the most intelligent person I've ever known. Have you ever heard of people who's intellect is deemed "frightening"? Well his certainly was. In fact, when I knew him (I sadly lost contact some time ago), there where some, who were frightened of him, not that I think they had cause to be, or at least, you had to give him cause to be.

The advice is something I've tried to follow ever since, I've watched, with curiosity, the horrible fallout that has occurred, when others around me have failed to do this. I should like to note that I didn't withhold the same advice to others, simply to watch the result. Rather, I either gave the advice and it was ignored, or I didn't know the person well enough to offer advice.

Perhaps I should clarify exactly what I mean. Rather than worlds, think of circles. Circles of friends. You may have your work friends, with whom, you share talk on the news of the day, what music you're listening to, what sport and team you follow. Then you may have friends you grew up with, people who have witnessed you greatest and worst moments. People who have shared experiences with you, that are, either deeply personal, or maybe slightly un-ethical. Ethics are in the eye of the beholder and context goes a long way, in a lot of circumstances. At the end of the day, we all make mistakes and it's nice to be able to leave them behind, or at least not bring them into the office.

Or maybe you have a fetish and in the privacy of your bedroom, perhaps with a like minded partner, you indulge in shoe licking, or whatever takes your fancy. That's completely fine, but not something that you need to share with your children, should you have them, regardless of their age.

I think it's important not to confuse this, with being ashamed of anything you do. If asked, I will share an awful lot with those around me, if I trust their motive for asking and I believe they truly want an answer. I don't think any of the above should be viewed as a dirty little secret, that you have to keep hidden from the world. It's simply that you keep it in the world where it was meant to be.