Thelemic Women in the New Aeon

Written by Soror Adara

Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law

In the Old Aeon of Osiris spirituality is defined as life-death-rebirth deity also known as a "dying-and-rising" God. It is a means of classifying the many divinities in the world that are born, suffer death or an eclipse or other death-like experience, pass a phase in the underworld among the dead, and are subsequently reborn, in either a literal or symbolic sense. The wide-spread belief was that existence was sorrow and that people needed to be saved from that sorrow by their paternalistic god. That sorrow has it roots in lusting after the pleasures in life. To control that impulse, man was taught to restrict his impulses and desires so that he may better strive for his perfect existence.

This restriction of man's impulses proved to be chains of slavery that ate away at the vitality of life. An example of that destruction is the way education was conducted. Education in the Old Aeon was established to benefit the group: whether the group was Country, Society, or the Order, at the expense of the individual. The individual will must be sacrificed to the Great Will, the individual mind to the Group Mind. Old Aeon teaching methods are mechanical, and uniform in approach. The teacher represents the Father, the Authority, the focus of the group, the single source of all knowledge and truth. Knowledge is considered to emanate from the wise teacher for absorption by the ignorant student. This method is demonstrated in the Book of the Law: "sixty-one the Jews call it"(I: 45) which is Nothing, or the original emanation; "divine inspiration". The student must sacrifice his or her own unique perspective in order to be receptive to this knowledge, which is considered to be absolute and unchangeable. Adherence to a uniform program is critical. Progress is assessed by comparison with a standard which is applicable to all. Competition is encouraged as a means to defeat individuality and focus the students' efforts toward standardized goals.

One of the most prevalent forms of the desecration of mankind in the Aeon of Osiris is the attitudes held towards women. Women in this aeon were treated like sub-humans. This change occurred when man realized that he had something to do with conception, primarily; insemination. It became a feather in men's ego when science proclaimed that the sperm penetrated the egg to make life. It was a sign of supreme masculinity that a man was able to carry the "best" semen and get a woman pregnant. Women were the vehicles for man's destiny. Suddenly, women were treated as second rate citizens, weaker than, not as intelligent as men. Man was no longer to live in harmony with Nature; man was to have dominion over Her. It has even gone as far as explaining the pain of child birth and menstrual bleeding as punishments by God for having deceived man. Mankind was to serve the male God as slaves. Women in this day are still fighting for the equality which they deserve.

The Aeon of Osiris has had a very strong influence in the last 2,000 years. Even those who did not subscribe to its dogma are influenced by it one way or another. The codes of morality that every person in society are expected to follow are based upon its principles. This has been the case for so long that we are presented with the opportunity to reflect on it and see how its poison has affected the world. For the last 2,000 years we have been told that sex is filthy. It is to be done only for the purposes of pro-creation. This mentality is responsible for a great percentage of violent sexual crimes, child abuse, sexual dysfunctions, psychosis, etc. The beauty and selflessness of that Union has been turned into a hideous crime against God.

The ancients of the Old Aeon based all of their formulas and teachings on the idea of the Dying and Re-arisen God much like the rising and setting of the Sun. Through modern science, we have learned that it is not the sun that rises and sets but the earth that rotates around the sun. This proves that the sun does not die as was conceived. It is always shining its rays of Light and Life.

But how can this Light and Life be conceived of? The answer lies here. One must identify oneself with the Sun. That is to step out of the consciousness that is perceived as truth; one must become a Solar Being. One must become the outside force of the known universe to initiate change. Once this identification is made, why withdraw? The rays of Light seemed so bright that it appears to the untrained eye as darkness. But if gazed upon again, more fully, the brilliant colors of the light spectrum will appear. As it states in the Book of the Law, "my color is black to the blind, but the blue and gold are seen of the seeing" (AL vel Legis I: 59).

In the moment of union with the Sun, one realizes that he is now the source of Light, which we are shining brightly, but can no longer see the Sun. All around is the vastness of night; it is infinite space and infinite possibilities. What is seen is the body of Nuit in which we live and move. Each star is no longer a tiny pin-point but a blaze of definable bodies moving along harmoniously without incurring in another'o s space. We realize that "every man and every woman is a star"(AL vel Legis I: 3).

It is the identification and the realization of the divinity of every person that ushers in the New Aeon spirituality. This new formula is that of the Crowned and Conquering Child, the word of whose Law is: Θελημα. This Law encompasses all True Religions, and is capable of great tolerance which is essential to protect the diversity it indoctrinates. Here we are dealing with the liberation of the human race from those which have oppressed us. No longer is man groveling at the feet of some far off, judgmental father but taking steps to becoming a god himself. He is no longer out to control nature but to use it accomplish their true will.

"Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law." This sentence is one of the two precepts that are the quintessence of Θελημα. This does not mean do whatever you want. Wants are a different matter. Wants often conflict. No. It means do whatever you will, whatever your Will is to do, and nothing else. Every man and woman has a Will. There are no gods upon whose backs we can piggy on to salvation; there is only the divinity inherent in every man and woman, and there is the resolve to take responsibility for that divinity, and to train your self to gain conscious access to it. There is no grace. There is no guilt. There is no law, save "Do what thou wilt."

Your Will is the one course of action you have an absolute right to follow every time. There is uncompromising freedom in choosing your will, and unrelenting responsibility for having done so. This is one of the essential differences between Magick, which was the name Aleister Crowley gave to his system of self training, and Religion. Magick is the conscious creation of all kinds of change in accordance to your Will. There is no need to take anything on the authority of some God or Devil, or even Priest or Rabbi or Minister. "There is no part of me that is not of the Gods." is the attitude of a person of the New Aeon. Psychologists call this as having an internal vector of control, self control. A magician is a pragmatist, and a religionists is a dogmatist.

"Love is the law, love under will" This is the second sentence that along with the first above forms the quintessence of Θελημα. The only word that has the universality to adequately describe the course of any person who is in touch with and doing their Will is love. Love is any and every process which causes change to more complex levels of organization. Love is that which liberates, which promotes diversity and freedom. It is any act made free of the strictures of fear. It is DNA. The will to love is found in any combination or union that creates, be it between hydrogen and two oxygen atoms to make water, or between two people to create ecstasy. The will to love permeates every corner of the multiverse. Love is evolutionary. We are, each and every one of us, a star, self-contained, self-propelling, and yet we take delight in each other. We exchange words and touches and emotions together, and together we can free ourselves from the only sin possible to the human being who has the courage to take responsibility for their own evolution: restricting our own wills or the wills of others. Restricting the chance of union and love.

The New Aeon is a description of the current phase of human evolution. We are all people who are willing to be comfortable with the notion that our personalities do not conform to some artificial role prepackaged for us and chosen because of the shape of our sex organs. Man and woman are thought of as equals. We are left with a series of individual decisions each one of which is relative to the conditions of a given place and time. The New Aeon follows the formula of exploration, experimentation, and growth. As education in the Old Aeon was viewed as a zero-sum game between the individual and the group, education in the New Aeon must recognize that stronger, more intelligent, more independent individuals make for a stronger, more intelligent and more independent group. The focus of education, therefore, is on the individual. Truth is viewed in terms of personal experience. Rather than a paternalistic dispenser of knowledge, truth and judgment, the teacher is viewed as a leader or guide; and as a facilitator or a catalyst; someone who encourages exploration and experimentation; someone who provides tools and opportunities for discovery; someone who provides interesting questions, not pat answers. Knowledge is considered as growing from within the student, not as being inoculated by the teacher. The individualized, first-hand knowledge of each student is thus treated as more valuable than "traditional" or "authoritative" second-hand instruction. Rather than evaluating student performance by gradation on uniform scales based on mythical ideals and norms, each student's progress is evaluated individually, by their efforts and contributions. The student in a New Aeon teaching is considered to be a fountain of truth sealed by lack of experience. Students are expected to question what they are taught, and to bring fresh perspectives to the teaching.

Thelemic women in the New Aeon are Goddesses, yes. She is the gentle soul of Nuit that is the infinite source of joy, pleasure, and nourishment. Thelemic women are Scarlet women who are the vehicle for divine inspiration of their own genius whose core burn with the blazing fires of lust, yes. She is the one who rides upon the Beast. Thelemic women are as Nature; to create without discrimination and give birth to creation without the clouding of the ego. Thelemic women are of the moon; the absolute feminine and passivity to the intensity of their counterparts, the males who are of the sun. But what makes a Thelemic woman different in this Aeon is she is the Warrior Priestess of Ra-Hoor-Khuit, the God of war and vengeance. She stands in the temple to do her work girt with a devastating sword. She stands fearless and shameless before all men. She enjoys all things of rapture and joy. She lusts after all the splendor the world had to offer her and she actively seeks those rewards. She accepts the responsibility of her freedom and takes control of the world?s influence over her.

The warrior priestess of the New Aeon actively conquerors the world as opposed to waiting to be rescued and worshiped for her beauty. She is a vehicle that is free to do her Will to usher in the Law of Θελημα and destroys all those that seek to put the bondages of slavery the were forced upon her by the scared cowards of the Old Aeon. For example, two women are walking down the street. One woman submits her will to the dead god of the slaves and the other is a warrior priestess. While both women are walking home one night, a man grabs her and attempts to rape her. The woman who places all of her faith in a far away god never thought to learn to defend herself, but believed that her benevolent god would protect her always. Why wouldn't he? She went to his temple when she was told she had to, kept herself chaste so that she may better know him, and never lusted after worldly treasures. She did everything she was told she had to do. Yet here she finds herself being violated and overcome by another. Why didn't her God save her? Why was she abandoned, alone with no one to hear her cries? The warrior priestess fortified herself with the sword of knowledge to protect herself physically. That evil creature tries to attack her and she broke her attackers arm so that she was able to get away to safety. She was not overcome by a being physically stronger than her and is free to continue down her path unharmed.

To be a Thelemic woman in this New Aeon of Horus means to seek out standards and "moral codes" to break them and give the world a new appreciation for the feminine. To obtain the training to recognize the mechanical currents that enslaves her and defeats them. She seeks out the chance for divine union to reclaim the fertility to bring forth a new generation of freedom. Simply put, a Thelemic woman seeks to become master of her own world and the force to command the forces that surround her.

Love is the law, love under will