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Thelema

The Comment

Ordo Templi Orientis

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

E.G.C.

The study of this Book is forbidden. It is wise to destroy this copy after the first reading.

Historical Texts

Whosoev er disregards this does so at his own risk and peril. These are m ost dire.

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Those who discuss the contents of this Book are to be shunned by all, as centres of pestilence.

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All questions of the Law are to be decided only by appeal to m y writings, each for him self.
There is no law bey ond Do what thou wilt.
Love is the law, love under will.
The priest of the princes,

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Ankh-f-n-khonsu
On this page I will present ideas regarding m y take on The Book of the Law. In no way do I present
these as authoritativ e, and they are giv en only to prov ide a glim pse into m y own insight. As Crowley
him self saidI adm it that m y v isions can nev er m ean to other m en as m uch as they do to m e.
Sacre d R ive r e x plore s

Interpretation of Liber AL is a task left to the indiv idual, and I can take no responsibility for any dire

spirituality grounde d in

consequences that m ight happen to any one besides m y self upon reading m y work.

re ligious naturalism &

progre ssive e thics that is
both non-the istic and
non-supe rnatural.

Those without feeling

For these fools of m en and their woes care not thou at all! They feel little; what is, is balanced by
weak joy s; but y e are m y chosen ones. (AL I:3 1 )
Hear m e, y e people of sighing!
The sorrows of pain and regret
Are left to the dead and the dy ing,
The folk that not know m e as y et.
These are dead, these fellows; they feel not. We are not for the poor and sad: the lords of the earth
are our kinsfolk. (AL II:1 7 -1 8)
We hav e nothing with the outcast and the unfit: let them die in their m isery . For they feel not.
Com passion is the v ice of kings: stam p down the wretched & the weak: this is the law of the
strong: this is our law and the joy of the world. (AL II:2 1 )
Much is m ade of the language in AL that calls for stam ping out the weak and the poor, and m any are
uncom fortable with this notion. On first glance, there is little reason not to define the words in a
rather straightforward way i.e. the poor are those liv ing in financial pov erty , the weak are
those who need help taking care of them selv es, the outcast m ight be the hom eless, and so on.
A closer look will rev eal one word that appears near m ost of these adm onitions: feel.
Considering the consistency of its use (the only other use of the word is in II:6 9 Ah! Ah! What do I

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feel? Is the word exhausted?) it is reasonable to conclude that all the negativ e epithets are
fundam entally defined as those who lack feeling. Moreov er, in II:2 1 this clear definition (For they
feel not) is im m ediately followed by Com passion is the v ice of kingswhich acknowledges that this
social feeling is a defining feature of a king (see The Vice of Kings below). Within this fram ework,
being poor or weak in the literal sense no longer qualifies, since people in those situations m ost
certainly do feel.
So, the challenge then becom es defining what is m eant by they feel not. There is a m edical
condition whereby a person can literally hav e no sensation of em otion. Howev er, it is v ery v ery rare
and is generally caused by phy sical brain dam age. Without getting into a long discussion about
psy chology , I will say that researchers now know that em otion play s a v ital role in norm al day -today decision m aking. Those with the aforem entioned brain dam age can think logically as well as
any one else, but are v ery deficient in m aking decisions because they dont hav e the em otional trigger
that tells one to stop pondering and m ake a choice. It seem s v ery unlikely that AL is referring to these
folks as being the poor and outcast.
If this is true, then the definition m ust refer to a certain kind of feeling. Support for this notion com es
directly from the wordinge.g. ...let them die in their m isery . For they feel not. Well, m isery is
certainly a feeling, so this rules out a general use of the term . The next clue is found in the sam e v erse
For they feel not. Com passion is the v ice of kings... In the context of this v erse, the feeling is either
com passion specifically , or the m ore general category of positiv e social feeling. In such a case, the
poor, unfit, weak, etc. would be defined as those who lack the feeling of caring for others. This idea
seem s to m esh nicely with I:57 , Lov e is the law, lov e under will.
A slightly different take on this would be defining them as those who do not feel others. In other
words, those who are em otionally disconnected from society , com m unity , and/or fam ily . Som e final
questions to ask in m editation: what are the outcast cast out of? What do the poor lack? What are
the sad sad about? What m akes one unfit, wretched or weak?

The Vice of Kings

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We hav e nothing with the outcast and the unfit: let them die in their m isery . For they feel
not. Com passion is the v ice of kings: stam p down the wretched & the weak: this is the law of
the strong: this is our law and the joy of the world. (AL II:2 1 )
As we hav e seen abov e, we m ay define the outcast and the unfit as those who either lack feelings
for others (generalized as a lov e of m ankind) or are em otionally cut off from society . Howev er, if we
choose to define these groups of people in m ore literal way s, then we can still find som e v ery
interesting v iews in this v erse. First, som e definitions:
Vice: usually defined as a failing, defect, weakness, or undesirable habit.
Compassion: a deep awareness of the suffering of another coupled with the wish to reliev e it.
At first glance, it appears that Thelem ites are enjoined to recognize com passion as a m oral failing, so
that they m ight go about the business of stam ping down those who are weaker than them selv es. I
utterly reject this surface interpretation. Fortunately , there are other way s to see this v erse.
The key is found in the term v ice. Other than being a m oral failing, a vice is also a clam ping dev ice
used to hold item s together. Using this legitim ate definition of the word, com passion then becom es a
tool of kings for holding or binding things together, perhaps illustrating the notion of prom oting
univ ersal brotherhood. By bringing people together, a king m ight then stam p down the wretched
and the weak by eradicating those conditions which cause their suffering. What better way to get rid
of weak people than by m aking them strong, or the wretched by elim inating their cause of m isery ?
If we accept the notion that the weak are those em otionally cut off from others, then the definition
of vice as a clam ping tool becom es ev en m ore relev ant. In such a case, it is the job of a king to feel
com passion for such lost souls and bring them together with the rest of society . This certainly would
take strength (this is the law of the strong) and would ideally bring about great happiness (this is
our law and the joy of the world).
A final thought: the v erse does say that Thelem ites hav e nothing with the outcast and the unfit
and to let them die in their m isery . Again, if the outcast and unfit are those who do not feel for
others and are cut off from society , then by definition we cannot be of them . Moreov er, it dictates by

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contrast that Thelem ites are to feel for others and to seek union with society . Howev er, if our v ice of
com passion fails to bind them to others v ia a renewed sense of lov e of m ankind, then we are to let
them abide in that state. We cannot force them to feel.

Faint & Faery

None, breathed the light, faint & faery , of the stars, and two. (AL I:2 8)
For the longest tim e, this v erse totally baffled m e. Frankly , I thought it was gibberish. Then, during a
conv ersation with som e fellow COPs, it cam e to m e.
The preceeding v erse say s:
Then the priest answered & said unto the Queen of Space, kissing her lov ely brows, and the
dew of her light bathing his whole body in a sweet-sm elling perfum e of sweat: O Nuit,
continuous one of Heav en, let it be ev er thus; t hat men speak not of Thee as One but as
None; and let them speak not of thee at all, since thou art continuous!
Nuits answer to the priests declaration can also be gram m atically restructured as:
None and two, breathed the faint & faery light of the stars.
And She then explains:
For I am div ided for lov es sake, for the chance of union.
This is the creation of the world, that the pain of div ision is as nothing, and the joy of
dissolution all.
thus ev oking the form ula of 0= 2 , which descibes the notion of attainm ent by annihilation through
the union of opposites. It is the m y stical result of y oga or sex m agick.
Other interesting notes about this verse: The central character in the center phrase of the sentence is
&. You m ay also note that on one side of the & is 5 words, with 6 words on the other, for a total of

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1 1 , the num ber of m agick.

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