Nostrum Futurum In Stellis Politics of the Stars

Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.

No matter where you sit on the political spectrum, the apocryphal Chinese curse is upon us, and we are certainly living in “interesting times.”

I live in the United States, so I cannot help but see politics tainted from that perspective immediately before I can view them from any other. And United States politics is, in a word, fucked.

Our country has entered a season of drunken contradictions. Courts expand executive power while eroding the authority of the very agencies tasked with stewarding public welfare. Both moves are presented as a fidelity to the Constitution, yet together they read as a reallocation of sovereignty away from the citizen and toward machinery that is accountable to us in name alone.

At the same time, the commons of attention—our agora of distraction and despair—has been captured and partitioned by corporate algorithms and clickbait anxieties. Congress and the Courts have advanced a sale-or-ban regime of social media while leaving the larger political economy of data extraction intact. Meanwhile, AI policy oscillates between precaution and acceleration, a pendulum that suggests not a strategy but a loss of civic nerve. The result of the technological chimera is surveillance without wisdom and innovation without telos.

In education—the forge where citizens are made—the fever has broken not toward freedom but toward censorship dressed as “parental rights.” When a nation teaches its young to fear books, it catechizes them into a politics that cannot abide conscience. The normalization of bans is not a sideshow; it is a ritual of narrowing that trains the hand to accept restraints which, in time, will not stop at the library.

Nature, indifferent to our litigations, is issuing its own demands. Another record-hot summer and a still-smoldering zoonotic threat (bolstered by incompetent political “healthcare”) lay bare the cost of performative governance. Heat does not negotiate, and viruses do not respect talking points; they answer only to the integrity of systems and the honesty of our response.

Against this backdrop, a politics that focuses solely on an administrative diagram will not suffice. What we require is an anthropology—an account of the human equation—that can carry law, economy, and culture without devouring them.

I remain of the opinion that any manner of Thelemic politics cannot be held to the standards of American definitions of Left or Right.¹Nor European political definitions, for that matter. That’s not to suggest that we don’t see elements of traditional politics within a Thelemic approach. Politics is politics, and ideological positions will inevitably be present in all constructions of politics. But it is how we construct our politics from a Thelemic perspective that makes the difference.

From a Thelemic vantage, the human being is neither clay to be molded by the State nor an atom to be monetized by the Market, but a star: individually luminous and bounded, but also participating in a greater company of heaven. “True Will” is not appetite weaponized; it is vocation discovered—freedom under discipline, sovereignty with duty. The four rays—Light, Life, Love, Liberty—are not slogans. They are a civil grammar: epistemic honesty (Light), dignified livelihood (Life), mutual regard (Love), and ordered freedom (Liberty). In policy terms, this translates, minimally, to truth-centric institutions, a political economy that refuses manufactured precarity, pluralism without prior permission, and stewardship as a non-negotiable premise of prosperity.

Call this a Commonwealth of the Sun and Stars²The Commonwealth of the Sun and Stars: A Vision for Thelemic Society will eventually be Volume 6 in the “Letters to the Beloved Companion Series,” of which this is a brief teaser introduction. if a name is needed: a political imagination that prefers constellations to cults of personality, subsidiarity over bureaucratic gigantism, and consent as an active sacrament rather than a box checked every few Novembers. Its test is simple: does a proposed arrangement enlarge the capacity of persons and communities to pursue their proper work without lying, pillaging, or poisoning? If not, it fails—no matter how patriotic its flag-waving and fireworks.

What follows is not necessarily an exit from the republic but a refusal to confuse habit with health. It is a rearticulation of first principles for an age of captured systems and exhausted myths, a declaration that loyalty runs to the conditions of human flourishing before it runs to any instrument that betrays them. In plain speech: we mean to recover a civic life proportioned to reality, fortified by truth, and worthy of free people. The work begins with words; it continues in the building of life, light, love, and liberty.

Nostrum Futurum In Stellis:³Lit., “Our Future is in the Stars.” A Declaration

When in the course of human events—as all declarations begin—it becomes clear that the institutions which once safeguarded freedom and dignity have hardened into instruments of corruption and decay, it is the right and responsibility of the people to examine their foundations and, when necessary, to build anew. To imagine we are isolated, disconnected, and removed from each other and the community of nations around us is to be ignorant and cut off from ourselves, rationally, spiritually, and politically. Yet a society that consents to its own degradation by clinging to broken forms betrays both its citizens and its descendants. To live honorably—dare we say, to live Thelemically—is to refuse such consent.

We affirm that the purpose of political and civic life, even under, if not most assuredly under, the Law of Thelema, is to secure the conditions by which individuals may flourish. When governments and institutions of any form or function abandon that purpose, when they deepen inequality, reward deception, or destroy the common ground of life itself, they lose their claim to the loyalty of its constituent populations.

The present order has shown itself guilty of these failings.⁴Just to name a few …

• It has permitted wealth to accumulate without restraint, until even a few hoard more than nations, while the many are bound by debt, manufactured scarcity, and insecurity.
• It has reduced work from a dignified contribution to a form of servitude, leaving millions without stability, recognition, or just compensation.
• It has treated education not as the foundation of wisdom but as common merchandise, binding the young to lifetimes of obligation while failing to form them into discerning, capable citizens.
• It has elevated profit above truth, allowing public discourse to be poisoned by propaganda, misinformation, and the calculated erosion of trust.
• It has placed political office in the hands of those who serve donors and factions rather than the common wealth, and it has shielded them from consequence when they betray their charge. It has tolerated corruption not as scandal but as routine and made a mockery of civil service.
• It has mortgaged the future of the Earth for the sake of short-term gain, poisoning air and water, exhausting soil, and destabilizing the climate in the pursuit of extraction. It has treated the living world as exploitable material rather than as the condition of human flourishing.⁵This sentence originally read, “It has treated the living world as exploitable material rather than as the condition of human survival,” and then I realized that we must go beyond survival. We continue to treat it like a resource to be under dominion, the whole Genesis 1:26 approach (via Evangelical hermeneutics), rather than as a commonwealth of life whose flourishing depends on mutual restraint and reciprocity.
• It has let technology advance without conscience, permitting surveillance, manipulation, and injustice in the guise of innovation.
• It has allowed militarism to prevail over diplomacy, waging endless wars abroad⁶And now within the cities of our own country! while neglecting the welfare of its own people.
• It has failed to defend the vulnerable, whether through indifference to poverty, abandonment of public health, or disdain for those who dissent from unjust commands.

These are not isolated faults but symptoms of a broken order. They reveal a structure that protects itself rather than those it was meant to serve, that rewards the strong not because they are strong but at the expense of the weak, and that mistakes power for authority. This is not the law of the strong but the abdication of authority.

We therefore declare that loyalty cannot be demanded of citizens when the institutions that claim it have abandoned their mandate. We declare the right to imagine and construct forms of community, governance, and culture that restore dignity, truth, and justice as the conditions of collective life. We do not withdraw from society, but we refuse to be ruled by corruption. We do not renounce responsibility, but we refuse to bear it on behalf of those who abuse it.

The future of our people is in the Stars, as it is written: every man and every woman is a star. This is the unveiling of the company of heaven: that to this end, we will resist exploitation and falsehood, speak plainly against injustice, preserve the earth that sustains us, and build together a common life worthy of a free and honorable people.

To this end, we assert

• the dignity, sovereignty, and liberty of the individual,
• that society exists to enable human flourishing, not to constrain it, and
• that government must protect liberty, uphold justice, and foster the conditions in which all people may pursue a meaningful life.

Therefore,

We affirm the fundamental rights of every individual: freedom of speech, freedom of conscience, freedom of association, and bodily autonomy.⁷These could be seen as right word, right thought, right relationship, and right action, respectively, as determined by each individual for themselves. From bodily autonomy also comes private property, although that issue is addressed elsewhere. All other rights flow from these four fundamental elements of liberty, and the government must safeguard these rights, not encroach upon them.

We affirm that political authority derives from the consent of the governed. We support institutions that are transparent, accountable, and resistant to corruption. Civic participation must be empowered at every level.

A free society respects all forms of belief—and unbelief. The government must not suppress any life-affirming religion, philosophy, or ideology. Pluralism strengthens civic life.⁸Some may find a paradox in a theocratic society under the Law of Thelema, which holds freedom of religion as a cornerstone of that same society, yet both imposes itself as the “national religion” while also maintaining no monopoly over religion in the public sphere.

The legal system must be impartial and just. We support criminal justice reform, restorative practices, and the consistent rule of law. Justice must serve the common good, not special interests.

We support an economy that rewards creativity and enterprise while protecting against exploitation and systemic inequality. Free markets must coexist with basic social protections that ensure opportunity and dignity for all.⁹I have some ideas for building a small eco-village that can scale over time, but it requires approximately 150–200 acres of land, around 50 dedicated individuals, a tax-savvy lawyer, and a new way of thinking about the microeconomy. Oh, and a Costco account. This would be a sustainable, business-oriented, and ecological venture, not a “utopian vision.” The goal is multigenerationalism rather than exploitation of the moment. No one should be condemned to poverty by circumstance.

We believe in universal access to high-quality education—education that fosters critical thinking, creativity, and the ability to build a meaningful life. Public education must be free from political or ideological distortion.¹⁰One of my goals for 2026 is to start working on a Mere Thelema adjacent project focused on Thelemic education, which really just looks like a well-rounded classical education. Go figure.

We stand for full civil rights, including reproductive freedom, gender equality, and the right to live according to one’s own identity and values within lawful limits. The state has no legitimate claim over private life or within private boundaries.

Stewardship of the natural world is a duty to future generations. We support strong environmental protections and the development of sustainable technologies and practices.

Public office is a public trust. We advocate for a political culture that values honesty, accountability, and service to the common good.

We believe in peaceful international engagement based on mutual respect, non-intervention, and the sovereign equality of nations. Military power must be used sparingly, for defense, with clear purpose and moral accountability, and in accordance with non-aggression principles.

This remains unfinished. It’s not supposed to be. There is no call to arms, no rush to succession from a greater body politic. No demand for independence or recognition of sovereignty from a greater political power. Not yet, at least.¹¹Though I do believe that day is coming sooner rather than later. I’m just not entirely sure what form it will take when it does. It is merely a thought experiment. I want you to consider what it might be like to have a place to call our own, to be under our own rule, and to be responsible for the social aspects of a larger contingent of people living together. It can be a scary thought. Even scarier when you look around at the chaos of our world right now.

But this is also an ethical and political thermometer. What kind of spine do you really have? Are you just another content creator? Are you just another online philosopher? Are you just another occultist with a penchant for faux-vellum and darkened rooms in which to hide from the coming storm? Do you have what it takes to put action behind all those words you write? Honestly? I don’t think most “content creators” do. They’ll be some of the first up against the wall. They have no plan. They have no ideas. They have no motion forward for the future. They have a grift and an online presence.

No more “drifting occultists,” remember?

Revolutions of the mind precede all revolutions of the world. What follows from these words is not a movement of banners or parties, but of conscience. The work begins in silence—when one chooses honesty over comfort, truth over conformity, and responsibility over despair. It is there, in the private sphere of will, that a new world order is first conceived.

But you have to first consider not what others must do, but what it means to live as if these principles were already true for yourself. To speak truthfully. To act with justice. To refuse corruption in one’s own conduct. To build communities where dignity and liberty are more than slogans. Such things require no permission. They require only courage.

Thelema calls not merely for freedom, but for the disciplined use of it. The star that burns within us is not ornamental. It is directive. When we live by that light, the world begins to turn toward it, slowly but surely, as planets toward a sun. But sometimes, just sometimes, we’re going to have to take the unpopular stand. And that’s going to be loud. And that’s going to hurt.

Love is the law, love under will.