As you can see, the website is being revamped. I’m not sure exactly what it’s going to look like in the end, but I want it to be inspirational, informative, and to help people along their journeys.
I finally got the tausciam@moderngnosis.org email address working. My apologies for anyone that tried to use it and found out it didn’t work. It was an overlooked error.
Baruch Atah Adonai Eleheinu Melech Ha-Olam Shehecheyanu vekiyemanu vehigianu lazeman hazeh.
We praise you, Eternal God, Sovereign of the Universe, for giving us life, sustaining us, and enabling us to reach this season.
In Judaism, there is the idea of tikkun olam – repairing the world. The idea is that we look around us at the world and see God in everything around us. By bringing these bits of God to the forefront, we can be partners in creation with God and create the world that God envisions.
This includes things like caring for the environment, but it also includes things like caring for people. Maimonides (and Crowley restated it..) said that the highest form of charity is charity given to make someone strong and independent, so they don’t need charity anymore – they can support themselves. In our lives, there are none so deserving of our charity, our compassion and our support than our children. It is our duty to sacrifice of ourselves to make sure that our child is healthy – physically, mentally, and socially. Our goal is to be everything that our child needs.
Crowley made a very good statement: “There is no god where I am”. It doesn’t mean there is no god period (at times Crowley believed that, at times he didn’t….and it really doesn’t matter much what he personally believed… What matters is how we interpret and grow from the philosophy). “There is no god where I am” is a call to action. Don’t pray for God to make the world a better place. Don’t pray for God to help the person next to you. God has already placed YOU here. It is YOUR duty. Do the absolute best you can… do more than you ever thought possible… and then hope that God stands behind you, giving you that little extra push to help you along. But, even if he doesn’t, you know you’ve done all you can do. But, when you try your hardest to do the right thing, you’d be surprised how often the right thing gets done. It doesn’t happen every time, but if you don’t try, you can pretty much guarantee it won’t happen this time.
This article is not my work. It is posted by permission and is the work of the blogger Princeofcups518. The original can be found there.
In 1904, Aleister Crowley produced one of the most profound and bizarre books ever written – The Book of the Law. Some see it as a masterpiece, others see it as absurd, even obscene. The heart of this Law is this: “Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law,” and, “love is the law, love under will.” Any Thelemite will know these phrases by heart, as they are repeated endlessly throughout Crowleyan literature. But what do they mean? What mainly frustrates me is this ignorant, mainly Christian, fear of the first phrase, as many read it as a legitimization of hedonism. To make this assumption is to completely disregard the rest of the entire Book of the Law, and to essentially obfuscate all the actual usefulness of Thelema. This is backwards thinking, as well as absolutely foolish. I am not a Thelemite, nor do I adhere to all of their beliefs, but I do understand where our man Aleister was coming from, and I am equally aware that he was not a total lunatic. Crowley’s writings exhibit some of the most profound genius and inspiring commentary I have ever read, and I believe it is about time we dismantle this bogus myth that Crowley was a huge raving Satanist.
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As many of you know, I haven’t engaged in “Thelemic” practices in quite some time. I dealt mainly with the Jewish Kabbalah as understood by the Western Mystery Tradition. Since I started attending a Jewish temple, I have been taking part in Jewish practices. I feel they give me what I need.
That will continue in the future. I am converting to Judaism and I will only take part in practices that are Jewish in origin. It’s not that I see anything wrong with Thelemic practices, but they have not fulfilled my needs for years. I have stopped work on my Mass because the Jewish Shabbat meal has taken the place of that service for me.
Of course, I will still be speaking on the philosophy of Thelema at times because, as I’ve interpreted it for a very long time, it doesn’t conflict with Jewish thought and actually aligns with it. Honestly, though, if I found a conflict between Judaism and Thelema, then Judaism would take precedence. I would not call it “Thelema” and misrepresent it, but I would choose the Jewish principle. I don’t see that type of conflict happening, but I’m being honest about what would happen in that case.
As many of you know, I consider the “religion” of Thelema to be more accurately described as a religious philosophy. Gnosticism, and its subset, Thelema, is really the search for God and how one should go about it. It doesn’t define God for you, so many Thelemites also belong to religions – which do define God for them.
In January, I started attending a local Reform Jewish temple. I had discovered, seemingly by chance, that the way I interpreted Thelema, as well as other thoughts I had developed during my search, were aligned with Judaism. In short, over the last 20 years of my spiritual path, I had grown into Judaism. I thought as a Jew.
Judaism allows me to add form to my soul’s yearning for God. The Torah, Talmud and other Jewish writings add depth and meaning to my search. I have slowly been adding Jewish culture and practices to my life. I feel they endue my daily life with sacredness. I have not, for years, incorporated “Thelemic” practices in my daily life. They just didn’t provide for me what Judaism does. Of course, Thelema is not about what practices you perform. It is a philosophy. It is about accepting the Book of the Law as you personally interpret it.
Whereas before, my Jewish influence was mainly Hermetic Gnosticism’s presentation of the Kabbalah, it is now much more in depth and encompassing in my life. I don’t feel like my life was not spiritual or anything of the sort before. But, I feel my acceptance of Judaism is enhancing my life now. With that in mind, a month ago I approached the Rabbi and began the conversion process to Judaism.
Now, if you’re expecting me to say “I found Judaism! You should too!” then you’re going to be sorely disappointed. My path and yours are different. What works for me may utterly fail for you. I do not have THE answers. I’m just finding MY answers.
Now, this does not mean that I am walking away from everything. I am enhancing what I am…adding depth to it. I am enriching my life and adding to my experience. As I’ve thought this way for years, there is nothing to walk away from… there are no about-faces to be made. There is simply growth and development along the same lines I have been following for a very long time.
The Western Mystery Tradition stands upon the shoulders of Judaism. Freemasonry, Thelema, and a multitude of other aspects of that tradition have their roots within Judaism. As far as my thoughts on Thelema, as one Jewish friend remarked, “You’ve always sounded more like a Jew than some Jews!” It is impossible for me to turn my back on Thelema when, as I’ve interpreted it, it resembles Jewish philosophy as much as much of what many Jews put out. To me, the two are inextricably linked. (To me, there is a reason why the symbol for Thelema is the Jewish “Star of David” written with a singular motion.)
Now, that is not to say that Thelemic PRACTICES, or how EVERYONE interprets Thelema aligns with Judaism. Some people interpret Thelema in ways that don’t even line up with Thelema, in my opinion! However, my own personal interpretation of Thelema, the way I fit it into my outlook and mindset… it is Jewish inspired philosophy. So, I will continue as I always have – giving my own interpretations of Thelema… illuminating things as I see them… and inviting you to do it for yourself, even if you find yourself in disagreement with me.
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