Thelema
Thelema is a religious and philosophical system based on The Book of the Law, a.k.a. Liber AL vel Legis, as delivered to Aleister Crowley in Cairo, Egypt, in 1904 e.v. The interpretation of the principles of Thelema is ultimately a personal matter, since we believe that each individual is the sole arbiter of his or her own way of life. The majority of Thelemites, nevertheless, commonly single out the following statements from The Book of the Law as most representative of its central message. These are:
"Every man and every woman is a star" (AL I: 3).
"Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law" (AL I: 40).
"Love is the law, love under will" (AL I: 57).
In other words, and as an example of a possible interpretation of these statements, we maintain that each person carries the Light within themselves, that the form in which that Light manifests is the Will, and that the nature of that Will is Love.
The theological aspect of The Book of the Law centers on three major deities. The Goddess Nuit represents Infinite Space and the boundless possibilities of manifestation. Crowley defined Her as the 'Infinite Without.' Her counterpart is Hadit, the atomic principle of consciousness. Crowley defined Him as the 'Infinite Within.' (Other possible definitions compare these two to Shiva and Shakti of Tantric Hinduism or to the Tao and Teh of classical Taoism.) The 'child' of these two is a composite deity Heru-Ra-Ha, who has a dual aspect of Ra-Hoor-Khuit in his active form, and Hoor-Pa-Kraat in his passive form. (It should be noted that despite the terminology, Thelema is not a revival movement of the ancient Egyptian religion. Similarly, despite the presence of religious vocabulary, it should not be assumed that an atheistic approach to Thelema is impossible.)
Another important aspect of Thelema is related to the concept of Aeons. According to this perspective, the spiritual and cultural evolution of humankind in its earliest recorded form was under the domination of what may be symbolized as Mother or Woman. This was the Aeon of Isis, where the sacred was associated with Nature understood as the Mother to whom one eventually needs to return. This was superseded by the Aeon of Osiris, the time of patriarchy and male Gods. The principal spiritual doctrine of the age of the God Father was that a person needs to suffer and die in order to earn an eternal life post-mortem. The reception of The Book of the Law marks the advent of the androgynous Child God Horus (called Heru-Ra-Ha in The Book of the Law). The signs of this Aeon are the collapse of patriarchy and its symbolic order, and the rising significance of the ideals of freedom, individuality, and play. We are realizing that the spirit and body are one and Crowley wrote that the "true Magick of Horus requires the passionate union of opposites."
Further significance of the Law of Thelema is a matter of life-long elucidation and practice. Crowley wrote several commentaries on the Book, but the short Comment is the only one which is generally considered inspired.