Tree Meet Forest Tending a Garden of Thelemites
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law. It is nifty to say that every man and every woman is a star—self-ruling, radiant, burning in their course. But all stars belong to a universe larger than themselves. Our light is not diminished by this context. It is...
Integral Thelema
Integral Thelema is a regularly released newsletter promoting the growth, education, and application of integral Thelemic philosophy and theology with a focus on application to real-world concerns in pursuit of wholeness in all four primary experiential domains, and to the complex issues in the world, through a framework of applied Thelema in 360°of life.
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The Cracked Mirror A Thelemic Reckoning with the Therapeutic Age
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law. The clinic has become a stage. Not the one with velvet curtains and orchestral swells—but the low-lit kind, where scripts are repetitive, feelings are monetized, and performance is mistaken for transformation. Trauma...
Swift as a trodden serpent In Response to Fascism
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law. I’ve written about my thoughts on fascism and Thelema in the past. It should be no shock to anyone that I fall squarely against any form of authoritarianism in our communities at all. A New Manifesto No one is neutral...
Love in the Time of Will Spiritual Development, Discipleship, and the Future of Thelema
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law. I’ve spent enough time being on the offensive against what I consider to be the termites in the framework of modern Thelema. It’s time to shift gears and begin to lay down a mature vision of Thelema that is both...
Realigning the Aeons, Part I An Integral Approach to Aeonic Theory
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law. The aeons are something many Thelemites take for granted without realizing just how unstable the foundation of our doctrine of the aeons really is throughout Crowley’s writings. He mentions them now and again, makes a...
The Institutes of Kingship Foundations in the Principles of Life
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law. I’m probably ahead of myself here because I haven’t released anything for you on Unified Kingdom Theology yet—I’m still working on that essay and find that it’s a bit more complicated than I originally thought to ensure...
Liturgy of the Sun A Celebration of the Company of Heaven
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law. I’ve always felt a deep pull toward the beauty and gravity of Eastern Orthodox liturgy, just as I’m moved by the raw simplicity of Quaker unprogrammed worship. And I’ve always loved the way food becomes sacred in...
In Defense of a Rule of Life A Thelemic Fidēs as Action
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law. As a Thelemite, I can tell you that I am not all fond of rules. In fact, I dare say if you ask ten Thelemites if they like rules, you’ll get thirteen “hell, no’s” in response. Of course, the irony is that if you ask...
A Way of Spiritual Formation Maturity in the Aeon of the Child
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law. If there is one thing that continues to plague my thinking about modern Thelema, it is something a mentor of mine once said—and I’m paraphrasing here—that just because Crowley was a magician doesn’t mean that everyone...
Thelema and Authority A Tripartite Approach of Equilibrium
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law. Let’s talk about a-a-a-authority. I know. I know. It’s a dirty word in Thelemaville. The moment you drag out the word authority people start to think you’re about to slap on the chains and drag them off to the salt...
Ethics
Raise herself in pride! Thoughts on the Scarlet Woman
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law. The subject of the Scarlet Woman comes up enough to warrant its own discussion to get at the heart of the matter from a theological perspective. Much rubbish has...
Politics
Pit Called Because An Introduction to Wicked Problems
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law. Let’s get something out of the way first: I have no idea what I’m talking about here. Well, that’s only partially true. I have some idea. But this isn’t my area of expertise. However, I have enough understanding (as a...
Eyes Wide Shut Personal Lesson in Ideological Bubbles
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law. I grew up in a sheltered childhood. I was raised within a Southern Baptist evangelical environment, but it was a paradoxical mix of standard 1970s end-of-the-world messaging and 1980s Satanic Panic paranoia with a load...
Of Dog Catchers, School Boards, and Presidents Voting Thelema into Office
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law. Grab a seat. Trust me. I fully admit my ADHD may have hit a ceiling with this one. I am really all over the place. And, for once, I’m not going to apologize for the semi-brain-dump feel of this offering. We’re just...
Will of the Commons Thelema and the Tragedy of the Commons
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law. In 1968, the xenophobic, eugenics proponent Garrett Hardin wrote his now-famous article in Science...
Thelema and Fascism An Open Letter to Those Who Fail to See
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law. You ask if the Law of Thelema is opposed to fascism and I must immediately say yes. We live in a time when fascism raises its ugly head and, even now as all eyes turn toward the...
Psychology
Alethiology, Part 1 Toward a Thelemic Therapeutic Orientation
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law. Personal Introduction If I said that psychology is a hobby of mine, that’s probably a bit dishonest. To provide a little context, as a research psychologist my focus started out in the study of the empirical divide...
Thelemic Cartography A New Approach to Personal Discovery
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law. For decades, the assumption in Thelemic communities has been that everything can be mapped to the Tree of Life. And that may be true. Frankly, Miss. Scarlet W., I don’t give a damn. I think the Tree of Life is the most...
5 Habits for the New Year New Year’s Clickbait. Duh!
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law. It’s the new year! Welcome to 2025! I feel like it’s going to be a wild year no matter how it all shakes out. A lot of change happening around here. A lot is staying the same too. We’re two months in on the new puppy,...
True Will Some Ill-Advised Thoughts on the Matter
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law. The concept of the so-called True Will can be a tricky little beast. It’s thrown around by...
Theology
Thelemic Exegesis A Critical Evaluation of the Study of Thelemic Scripture, Part II
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law. Exegesis in Thelema is not a passive act of textual analysis or mere number crunching but a transformative engagement with its sacred writings. Interpretation, in this sense, is not about imposing external authority...
Thelemic Hermeneutics A Critical Evaluation of the Study of Thelemic Scripture, Part I
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law. Hermeneutics broadly refers to the study of interpretation, especially of texts, language, and meaning. It is relevant in multiple domains—including philosophy, law, and literary criticism—but is most notably linked to...
Thelema: A Religion? Who’s Still Afraid of Crowley's Big Bad Wolf?
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law. Religion, as such, has become one of the largest boogiemen of Thelema since Crowley proclaimed calling Thelema a religion “a rather stupid kind of mischief.”Crowley, Aleister. 1994. “Religion–Is Thelema a ‘New...
Doctrinal Triage The Importance of Doctrine in a Time of Spiritual Infancy
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law. Frankly, if I’m going to start out blunt here, I’m going to say it bluntly: Thelemites have...
The Desert Refuge Revisiting a Lockdown Meditation
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law. During the COVID lockdown years, I spent some time...
Cutting Through The Bullshit A Jungle Polemic
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law. I want each man to cut his own way through the jungle.Crowley, Aleister. 1989. The Confessions of Aleister Crowley: An...
Special Dispatch
Learning and Unlearning A Personal Introspective Manifesto
Originally written in 2001. Updated in 2007. Minor textual corrections and footnote commentary in 2024.Now seemed like a good time to bring this back out. Maybe I needed a reminder.Thelema is more than just empowerment. It’s embodiment. It is the embodiment of...
Pedagogical Perspectives On Thelemic Teachers
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law. I commented recently that I grew up in a highly conservative Baptist church that was a bit different than most. Unlike in the majority of typical Southern Baptist-affiliated churches of the times, our preacher was...
Eyes Wide Shut Personal Lesson in Ideological Bubbles
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law. I grew up in a sheltered childhood. I was raised within a Southern Baptist evangelical environment, but it was a paradoxical mix of standard 1970s end-of-the-world messaging and 1980s Satanic Panic paranoia with a load...