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Thelema
Thelema () is a Western esoteric and occult social or spiritual philosophy and new religious movement founded in the early 1900s by Aleister Crowley (1875–1947), an English writer, mystic, occultist, and ceremonial magician. The word ''thelema'' is the English transliteration of the Koine Greek noun (), "will", from the verb (): "to will, wish, want or purpose." Adherents to Thelema are called ''Thelemites'', and phenomena within the scope of Thelema are termed ''Thelemic''. Crowley wrote that, in 1904, he had received a text or scripture called '' The Book of the Law'', dictated to him by a potentially non-corporeal entity named Aiwass. This text was to serve as the foundation of the religious and philosophical system he called Thelema. Crowley identified himself as the prophet of a new era in humanity's spiritual development, a novel age he termed the Æon of Horus. According to Crowley, the facticity of his prophethood was mainly predicated upon his reception ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thelemic Pantheon
Thelema () is a Western esoteric and occult social or spiritual philosophy and new religious movement founded in the early 1900s by Aleister Crowley (1875–1947), an English writer, mystic, occultist, and ceremonial magician. The word ''thelema'' is the English transliteration of the Koine Greek noun (), "will", from the verb (): "to will, wish, want or purpose." Adherents to Thelema are called ''Thelemites'', and phenomena within the scope of Thelema are termed ''Thelemic''. Crowley wrote that, in 1904, he had received a text or scripture called ''The Book of the Law'', dictated to him by a potentially non-corporeal entity named Aiwass. This text was to serve as the foundation of the religious and philosophical system he called Thelema. Crowley identified himself as the prophet of a new era in humanity's spiritual development, a novel age he termed the Æon of Horus. According to Crowley, the facticity of his prophethood was mainly predicated upon his reception of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aleister Crowley
Aleister Crowley (; born Edward Alexander Crowley; 12 October 1875 – 1 December 1947) was an English occultist, ceremonial magician, poet, painter, novelist, and mountaineer. He founded the religion of Thelema, identifying himself as the prophet entrusted with guiding humanity into the Æon of Horus in the early 20th century. A prolific writer, he published widely over the course of his life. Born to a wealthy family in Royal Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, Crowley rejected his parents' fundamentalist Christian Plymouth Brethren faith to pursue an interest in Western esotericism. He was educated at Trinity College at the University of Cambridge, where he focused his attentions on mountaineering and poetry, resulting in several publications. Some biographers allege that here he was recruited into a British intelligence agency, further suggesting that he remained a spy throughout his life. In 1898, he joined the esoteric Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, where he was train ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Qabalah
Hermetic Qabalah () is a Western esoteric tradition involving mysticism and the occult. It is the underlying philosophy and framework for magical societies such as the Golden Dawn, Thelemic orders, mystical-religious societies such as the Builders of the Adytum and the Fellowship of the Rosy Cross, and is a precursor to the Neopagan, Wiccan and New Age movements. The Hermetic Qabalah is the basis for Qliphothic Qabala as studied by left-hand path orders, such as the Typhonian Order. Hermetic Qabalah arose alongside and united with the Christian Cabalistic involvement in the European Renaissance, becoming variously Esoteric Christian, non-Christian, or anti-Christian across its different schools in the modern era. It draws on a great many influences, most notably: Jewish Kabbalah, Western astrology, Alchemy, Pagan religions, especially Egyptian and Greco-Roman (it is from the latter that the term "Hermetic" is derived), neoplatonism, gnosticism, the Enochian system of a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Holy Books Of Thelema
''The Holy Books of Thelema'' is a collection of 15 works by Aleister Crowley, the founder of Thelema, originally published in 1909 by Crowley under the title ', and later republished in 1983, together with a number of additional texts, under the new title, ''The Holy Books of Thelema'', by Ordo Templi Orientis under the direction of Hymenaeus Alpha. Content ''The Holy Books of Thelema'' consists of the wholly class A libri of Aleister Crowley, which indicates that they that are not to be changed, even to the letter. According to Crowley, they were not so much written ''by'' him as ''through'' him, and are therefore referred to as inspired works. Additionally, ''Liber LXI'', a class D text, is included as an introduction after a preface by Hymenaeus Alpha and synopsis compiled from Crowley's writings. ''Liber LXI'' was originally class A, then changed to class B, indicating works of scholarship, then changed to class D, indicating official rituals and instructions. ''Liber I ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Book Of The Law
''Liber AL vel Legis'' (), commonly known as ''The Book of the Law'', is the central sacred text of Thelema. Aleister Crowley said that it was dictated to him by a beyond-human being who called himself ' Aiwass'. Rose Edith Kelly, Crowley's wife, wrote two phrases in the manuscript. The three chapters of the book are spoken by the deities Nuit, Hadit, and Ra-Hoor-Khuit. Through the reception of the ''Book'', Crowley proclaimed the arrival of a new stage in the spiritual evolution of humanity, to be known as the " Æon of Horus". The primary precept of this new aeon is the charge, " Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law." The book contains three chapters, each of which was alleged to be written down in one hour, beginning at noon, on 8 April, 9 April, and 10 April in Cairo, Egypt, in the year 1904. Crowley says that the author was an entity named Aiwass, whom he later referred to as his personal Holy Guardian Angel. Biographer Lawrence Sutin quotes private diari ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Heru-ra-ha
Heru-ra-ha () is a composite deity within Thelema, a religion that began in 1904 with Aleister Crowley and his ''Book of the Law''. Heru-ra-ha is composed of Ra-Hoor-Khuit and Hoor-paar-kraat. He is associated with the other two major Thelemic deities found in ''The Book of the Law,'' Nuit and Hadit, who are also godforms related to ancient Egyptian mythology. Their stelae link Nuit and Hadit to the established ancient Egyptian deities Nut and Hor-Bhdt (Horus of Edfu). Active aspect The active aspect of Heru-ra-ha is Ra-Hoor-Khuit ( egy, rꜥ-ḥr-ꜣḫtj; sometimes also anglicized as Ra-Hoor-Khu-it, Ra-Har-Khuti, or Ra-Har-Akht; Egyptological pronunciation: ''Ra-Horakhty'' or ''Ra-Herakhty''), means 'Ra (who is) Horus of the Horizon'. Ra-Hoor-Khuit or Ra-Hoor-Khut is the speaker in the third chapter of ''The Book of the Law''. Some quotes from his Chapter, (in particular verse 35, where the name appears): * "Now let it be first understood that I am a god of War and of Venge ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hadit
Hadit (sometimes Had) refers to a Thelemic deity. Hadit is the principal speaker of the second chapter of ''The Book of the Law'' (written or received by Aleister Crowley in 1904). Descriptions Hadit identifies himself as the point in the center of the circle, the axle of the wheel, the cube in the circle, "the flame that burns in every heart of man, and in the core of every star," and the worshipper's own inner self. Hadit has been interpreted as the inner spirit of man, the Holy Ghost, the sperm and egg in which the DNA of man is carried, the Elixir Vitae. When juxtaposed with Nuit in ''The Book of the Law'', Hadit represents each unique point-experience. These point-experiences in aggregate comprise the sum of all possible experience, Nuith. Hadit, "the Great God, the lord of the sky," is depicted on the Stele of Revealing in the form of the winged disk of the Sun, Horus of Behdet (also known as the Behdeti). However, while the ancient Egyptians treated the Sun and th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nuit
Nuit (alternatively Nu, Nut, or Nuith) is a goddess in Thelema, the speaker in the first Chapter of ''The Book of the Law'', the sacred text written or received in 1904 by Aleister Crowley. Based on the Ancient Egyptian sky goddess Nut, who arches over her husband/brother, Geb ( Earth god). She is usually depicted as a naked woman who is covered with stars. Goddess of Thelema Within this system, she is one-third of the triadic cosmology, along with Hadit (her masculine counterpart), and Ra-Hoor-Khuit, the Crowned and Conquering Child. She has several titles, including " Our Lady of the Stars", and "Lady of the Starry Heaven". In ''The Book of the Law'' she says of herself: "I am Infinite Space, and the Infinite Stars thereof", and in other sections she is called "Queen of Heaven," and "Queen of Space." Nuit is symbolized by a sphere whose circumference is nowhere and whose center is everywhere, whereas Hadit is the infinitely small point at the center of this sphere. Acco ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mediumship
Mediumship is the practice of purportedly mediating communication between familiar spirits or spirits of the dead and living human beings. Practitioners are known as "mediums" or "spirit mediums". There are different types of mediumship or spirit channelling, including séance tables, trance, and ouija. Belief in psychic ability is widespread despite the absence of objective evidence for its existence. Scientific researchers have attempted to ascertain the validity of claims of mediumship. An experiment undertaken by the British Psychological Society led to the conclusion that the test subjects demonstrated no mediumistic ability. Mediumship gained popularity during the nineteenth century, when ouija boards were used as a source of entertainment. Investigations during this period revealed widespread fraud—with some practitioners employing techniques used by stage magicians—and the practice began to lose credibility.Ruth Brandon. (1983). ''The Spiritualists: The Passi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wicca
Wicca () is a modern Pagan religion. Scholars of religion categorise it as both a new religious movement and as part of the occultist stream of Western esotericism. It was developed in England during the first half of the 20th century and was introduced to the public in 1954 by Gerald Gardner, a retired British civil servant. Wicca draws upon a diverse set of ancient pagan and 20th-century hermetic motifs for its theological structure and ritual practices. Wicca has no central authority figure. Its traditional core beliefs, principles, and practices were originally outlined in the 1940s and 1950s by Gardner and an early High Priestess, Doreen Valiente. The early practices were disseminated through published books and in secret written and oral teachings passed along to their initiates. There are many variations on the core structure, and the religion grows and evolves over time. It is divided into a number of diverse lineages, sects and denominations, referred to as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Western Mysticism
Western esotericism, also known as esotericism, esoterism, and sometimes the Western mystery tradition, is a term scholars use to categorise a wide range of loosely related ideas and movements that developed within Western society. These ideas and currents are united since they are largely distinct both from orthodox Judeo-Christian religion and Enlightenment rationalism. Esotericism has pervaded various forms of Western philosophy, religion, pseudoscience, art, literature, and music—and continues to influence intellectual ideas and popular culture. The idea of grouping a wide range of Western traditions and philosophies together under the term ''esotericism'' developed in Europe during the late seventeenth century. Various academics have debated various definitions of Western esotericism. One view adopts a definition from certain esotericist schools of thought themselves, treating "esotericism" as a perennial hidden inner tradition. A second perspective sees esotericism as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
