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Introduction to Thelema 

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The following collection of links explores one of the more interesting, controversial and important movements within the modern revival of esoteric study, practice, ethics, sexuality and politics. It is important to stress the diversity of ideas and practices of its adherents.  As to Crowley its founder, much slanderous nonsense and wildly romanticized praise has been unfairly attached to him.  Criticizing Crowley's personality and behavior is much too simplistic for such an intriguing combination of self-proclaimed messiah and avant garde artist in a variety of mediums.  Still, I think that the following quotation by the renowned Chaos Magician Peter Carroll is worth repeating, since Crowley's own journals lend considerable credence to the assessment.

As Gerald Yorke commented to a friend of mine, "you would not have liked him if you had met him." Indeed, I'm sure that the few things Aleister would have requested of any of his contemporary followers had he still been around would have been wallet, worship, girlfriend and arsehole. This is not the style of mastership which interests me personally. (interview with Peter Carroll Abrasax Magazine, Vol.5, No.2.)

Most Thelemites will agree that Crowley's personality is not the focus of their interest, though a few do attempt to emulate his rather despicable lifestyle and personality.  Still, the writings of Crowley provide the essential backdrop against which the drama of Thelema is performed, often in tragi-comedic and/or absurdist form.

Only a few basic doctrines seem to unite them.  By discussing my own connection to these doctrines and practices, you will get a clear idea of my own biases and perspectives that inform the commentaries and criticisms that I make on this page:

1. Ethical relativism:  stemming from their basic precept of "Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law."  Most Thelemites interpret this as meaning that we each have an essential will or telos that, when followed, puts us in line with all other beings and forces in the universe. I personally find this facile and dubious for a number of reasons.  Given my own existentialist perspective, I cannot be considered a true Thelemite, so the comments on this page are being made by a parathelemic heretic.  I have avoided criticisms of materials along this line, except for this general remark, but it underlies my rejection of OTOism.

2. Libertarianism: freedom from restrictions, especially in regards to art, spirituality and hedonism.  Many Thelemites hold to radical social Darwinist philosophy, which I personally consider socially irresponsible and practically impossible.  Again, I am a heretic, given that my political ideas lean to the left of the political spectrum.  

3. Interest in / dependence on the writings of Crowley and his successors:  Crowley attracts bibliophiles, and publishers are eager to provide high quality editions.  Most serious Thelemites have studied Crowley's extensive writings very closely.  I too have studied him for a number of years.  Although I find him an unpleasant person, his writings are undoubtedly worth studying, even from a strictly literary perspective.  Crowley is fascinating. 

4. A tendency to group together in hierarchical initiatory societies: The most popular and well known is the Ordo Templi Orientis.  I was a member from 1987 to 1995.  I lost faith in the organization and its initiations in 1989, but continued association for social reasons.  I have absolutely no connection to the caliphate or other faction of the OTO since 1995, and no interest in attacking them.  I do, however, offer some commentaries here on each of the various manifestations, which should be read in light of my own biases.  

5. Practice of rituals:  which range from simple devotions similar to Christians, Jews & Muslims, to secret initiations, a Gnostic Mass, ceremonial magic and dramatic rituals with occult content.  Magic, or Magick is definitely of interest to me, though I have moved into a much more personal and creative direction.  As such, my commentaries below will reveal greater appreciation for innovation, independence and creative work as opposed to orthodoxy and traditionalism.

Beyond these similarities, there exists a great divergence of paths even within specific self-proclaimed Thelemic organizations. There is a tendency to rally around specific leaders and centralized organizations, accompanied with political conflicts over which group is the legitimate heir of the tradition.

In broad terms these divergent paths can be divided into these major groups (independent of political concerns of legitimacy):

• Those Thelemites who are primarily concerned with the socio-political implications of their gospel of liberty.

• Those whose interest lies largely in the study of Freemasonry and its purported Templar heritage.

• Those who dedicate most of their effort into the practice of various types of ceremonial magick and Tantric yoga.

• Those who seem to be attracted to the sheer spectacle, theatre and diversion.

• Those who are attracted to Crowley's writings--some to promote them for religious reasons, others for literary reasons.  Many of them seem to have financial motivations.

• Those who are more attracted to some other religious tradition such as Wicca, but are connected by means of that vague thing known as "the Pagan Community" to Thelema.  Crowley's influence is far-reaching among pagans.  These are not necessarily Thelemites, but it is useful to notice that there may be social connections.  Similarities between Wicca and Thelema abound.  A controversial theory states that Crowley is the source of Gerald Gardner's Book of Shadows.  Whatever is the truth in this regard, there is a long tradition of overlap between Wicca and Thelema.

Among these there are many "heretics" against their own tradition, as well as fanatical fundamentalists.

Attempts like this to summarize Thelema in brief terms are doomed to incompleteness.

Some consider themselves scientists, others are practically Jesuits for Crowleyanity. Some define themselves as Christians, even Catholics while a very few others would openly call themselves Satanists. Some are extremely interesting, educated, artistic and good people. Others are quite insane and perhaps a little dangerous (but mostly to themselves).

There are also a number of political factions (some more committed to litigation and competition than others):

• The Caliphate O.T.O. -- This is the largest faction world wide.  It is legally recognized in the U.S.A. as authentic.  They have spent much money in courts trying to prove it against several claimants in the U.S.A.  They have invested a large amount of resources and integrity (which has been lost, I feel) in a bizarre effort to suppress Crowley materials that have been circulating publicly for years. Scholarly work originating in this camp has proven to be high quality, though very much limited to directly Crowleyan publications.

• The Motta lineage -- This small but extremely vocal faction is dramatically opposed to the dominant caliphate. Known often as S.O.T.O. (Society Ordo Templi Orientis).  This relatively fundamentalist and fractious group has suffered numerous schisms.  The behavior of various leaders raises questions as to their sanity and social functionality.  

• The Kenneth Grant's Typhonian O.T.O. -- Has its roots in England and many marginally connected followers in the U.S.A.   More amorphous in nature, there does appear to be some informal connection between those who are not directly connected to the caliphate and this Typhonian branch.  In Europe, it appears that the supporters of Grant are partisans aligned against the copyright claims of the caliphate that is playing out between Tony Naylor and Bill Breeze.

• Swiss/German O.T.O. (the original founders of the O.T.O.) -- The Grant OTO and this continental movement seem to have joined forces in the Naylor publishing house of I.H.O., which is also competing for the financial rights to publish Crowley's works.  They have produced some nice material, but not in the nice library bindings of the caliphate.  

• Thelemic Order of the Golden Dawn -- a correspondence course in Thelema. No apparent interest in arguing legitimacy since they are clearly latecomers.  There is a large amount of fairly creative work here, though what I see is still quite derivative of Crowley's work.  

• English Qaballah -- Newer, less unified, and rapidly spreading thinkers exploring Thelema through the application of a numerology to the English alphabet.  

• A.·. A.·. (Seckler) The mystical/magical secret society started by Crowley as the replacement for the Golden Dawn.

• COLLEGE of THELEMA and TEMPLE of THELEMA (Seckler) The entry point for the A.'.A.'.

• O.T.O. U.S. Grand Lodge: International headquarters (McMurtry's Caliphate O.T.O.) This site represents the authority of the international head, the OHO, and current caliph Hymenaeus Beta. I guess that makes this the flagship web site.

• German Caliphate O.T.O. collaborative web site. Much of the material on these sites is in English, but it is a great resource for German translations

• Welcome to the Abbey of Thelema Thelema Lodge founded in 1977 by Grady McMurtry in North Oakland, California. This was the old headquarters of the OTO before it moved to New York, and then to Austin. Great web site.

• The Tahuti Lodge The Thelemic hotspot of New York City.  

• Scarlet Woman Oasis, OTO A very active cOTO body. Austin, Texas.

• Aisha Qadisha's Scorpio Rising Essays on the thelemic female perspective--a defense of the role of women in Thelema. Some adult content.

• Joseph L. (Joe) Larabell: Grand Cancellarius of the Temple of Thelema A computer-geek Thelemite with an attitude and a cyber-soapbox. 

• Xenda'ths Featuring works by various living Thelemites and some dead ones too.

• John's Creeping Homepage of Doom A Monarchist thelemite and artist with a sense of humor

• MAGICK a good links collection--wide variety of topics of interest to most cyberthelemites.

• David Bersson's Castletower Domain, The Grand Master of Thelemic Megalomania.  He prides himself on his dedication to insulting discipline, but seems incapable of disciplining himself to master English.  For some examples of Bersson's rudimentary prose nasty rantings, click this link and  click this link. Mind you, this is not to be taken as an endorsement on my part of GM Kelly (who posts this crazy stuff). Kelly is unwise in bothering to respond to people like Bersson. The only value in this seems to be to show who is busy doing magick and who is busy battling "magicians."

• Si3-ht: A page from one of the students of David Bersson et al, named Khabir.

• Barden's SOTO and A.'.A.'. site (Australian) Traditional, terse introduction to the A.'.A.'., some poetry by members (that in itself is pretty impressive, though the results are uneven). Lots of Caliphate bashing and whining.  It is important to note that this SOTO is in direct competition with the Eales-Bersson lineage, who make it no secret that Barden is naughty and not a legitimate leader.

• H.O.O.R. Information Network (Offshoot of SOTO) A really high quality web site in terms of presentation. As far as the content goes.... you be the judge.

• Ambrosii Magi Hortus Rosarum yet another offshoot of this tradition.  This one looks like it's presenting a more A.'.A.'./Golden Dawn and "Order of Thelema" emphasis as opposed to the SOTO emphasis.  Very poorly designed web site with a wallpaper background that makes it difficult to read the text. 

• AbaiVovin's Home Page Probably one of the best sites I have found in this faction. This guy really lays his metaphysics and doctrines out to see. Lots of original writing. Not much of the typical nastiness and parochialism.

• Adjuvo's Flyin' Circus This humorous site has what are supposedly some rock & roll songs that Motta wrote (lyrics and RealAudio files!!). The site and its author are Brazilian, as was Motta. Excellent insight into Motta's personality anyway. A must see.

• Bate Cabal/Black Moon Web Large site with lots of interesting and strange stuff.
  

• Typhonian Tomes: Being a Guide to the Works of Kenneth Grant  an introduction written by the witty Julianus
  

• AnandaZone! Magick, Tarot, Alchemy, Tantra, Esoteric Books & Art
  

• The Shadow Tarot (Linda Falorio)
  

• Frater Zendiq's Kuan Shi Yin Power Zone  Contains some original essays by several writers.

• The Book of Mutations: An EQ study of Liber Trigrammaton and Liber AL.  Interesting gematria stuff for Liber AL purists.  

• Gnostic-Alchemical Church of Typhon-Christ: Jake Stratton-Kent's writings dominate this ample web site of English Qabbalah.  This particular sub-movement in Thelema devotes itself to converting Crowley's texts into numerical values, which are then used to provide interesting (and often abject) meditations and arguments for the validity of the system itself, or for various interpretations.  Great stuff if you, unlike me, are so inclined.  This is the best site of its type I have seen, and JSK is the premier scholar in the field.
  

• Kiblah Web Site: See above--Jake Stratton-Kent's personal web site. (off-line?)
  

• Callisto Radiant's Home Page Interesting materials showing eclectic influences including (besides Thelema), Aurum Solis, English Qabalah, Enochian, mathematics (quantum mechanics), glbt (gender & myth/mysticism) Buckminster Fuller, and others.
  

• Aeonic :. Annunciation :. Fra. Perseverando's unique ideas and commentaries on Liber AL and Thelema. English Qabalah, and lots of new ideas and such. An interesting site with lots to offer.