Great Work (Thelema)

For the Great Work in Hermeticism, see Great Work (Hermeticism). For the Great Work in alchemy, see Magnum opus (alchemy).

Within Thelema, the Great Work is generally defined as those spiritual practices leading to the accomplishment of the True Will of one's Self in mystical union with the All. Its founder, author and occultist Aleister Crowley, based this path of mystical attainment or enlightenment on his studies in Hermetic alchemy and the Hermetic Qabalah, particularly as they were expounded by Eliphas Levi in the 19th century and later by various members in the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, an occult society of which Crowley had been a member.

Crowley wrote that in 1904 he heard and transcribed, from an entity called Aiwass, a book which came to be titled The Book of the Law. Crowley made this book the central sacred text of his new religious movement called Thelema, which he believed heralded a new Aeon for mankind. Between 1907 and 1911, Crowley wrote a series of other small texts which he considered to be inspired, written through him rather than by him, which he afterwards collected together in an anthology now called The Holy Books of Thelema. These texts formed the mystical backbone of Crowley's system, on which he elaborated in his extensive writings on magick, mysticism, and occult subjects.

True Will and Union

Main article: True Will

Thelema is a path intended to do two interrelated things: to enable one to learn one's 'True Will'; and to achieve union with 'the All'.^[1] This unification of opposites, the individual and the universal, is reiterated by Crowley in his book Magick Without Tears:

The Great Work is the uniting of opposites. It may mean the uniting of the soul with God, of the microcosm with the macrocosm, of the female with the male, of the ego with the non-ego.^[2]

The techniques for accomplishing these goals Crowley referred to as 'Magick,' a word he used to describe Western ceremonial magic (especially invocations and eucharistic ceremonies) supported by Buddhist meditation, Hermetic Qabalah, English Qaballa, tarot, and yoga,^[1] all set in the context of the worship of Nuit, the goddess of "Infinite Stars and Infinite Space".^[3]

Within the system of the magical Order A∴A∴, the Great Work of the Probationer Grade is considered to be the pursuit of self-knowledge to, as Crowley said in The Confessions of Aleister Crowley, "obtain the knowledge of the nature and powers of my own being."^[4] However, Crowley continues, the Great Work should also be something that is integrated into the daily life of all.^[a] Although Crowley often discussed the idea of "succeeding" or "accomplishing" in the Great Work, he also recognized that the process is ongoing.^[b]

The ability to accomplish the Great Work requires a great deal of preparation and effort, according to Crowley's system. The programme consists of several key elements, including a thorough knowledge of the Hermetic Qabalah (especially the Tree of Life), disciplined concentration (i.e. meditation), the development of one's body of light (in order to experience other planes) and the consistent and regular invocation of certain deities or spiritual beings ('assumption of godforms').

Within the mystical and philosophical system developed by Crowley, the core task for a practitioner is the discovery and manifestation of True Will. The realisation of this True Will is itself the Great Work, as expressed in the Benediction at the end of Crowley's Gnostic Mass, where the Priest blesses the congregation with the words:

The LORD bring you to the accomplishment of your true Wills, the Great Work, the Summum Bonum, True Wisdom and Perfect Happiness.^[5]

Methods

Tree of Life

The Tree of Life is a tool used to categorize and organize various mystical concepts. At its most simple level it is composed of ten spheres, or emanations, called sephiroth (sing. "sephira") which are connected by twenty-two paths. The sephiroth are represented by the planets and the paths by the characters of the Hebrew alphabet, which are subdivided by the five elements, the seven classical planets, and the twelve signs of the Zodiac.

Within the Western magical tradition, the Tree is used as a kind of conceptual filing cabinet. Each sephira and path is assigned various ideas, such as gods, cards of the Tarot, astrological planets and signs, elements, and so forth. Crowley's Liber 777^[6] is one of the most comprehensive collections of such qabalistic correspondences.^[7] Other authors have written on the topic, including Eliphas Levi,^{[citation needed]} Israel Regardie,^{[citation needed]} and Gareth Knight.^[8]

The path of attainment is largely defined by the Tree of Life. The aspirant begins in Malkuth, which is the everyday material world of phenomena, with the ultimate goal being at Kether, the sphere of Unity with the All. Through various exercises and practices, the aspirant attains certain spiritual and mental states that are characterized by the various sephiroth that ascend the Tree. Crowley considered a deep understanding of the Qabalah to be essential to the Thelemite.^[c][d] The practice of the Middle Pillar is especially important.

Qabalah is key to understanding Thelemic texts and scriptures, many of which, including The Book of the Law, are written in abstract, poetic, and often cryptic language. Through the use of the Qabalah, and especially the function of gematria (a form of numerology), the normally opaque meaning of the texts can be made clear. Thelemites can also make use of gematria to link words and concepts and to validate revelations given to them in magical operations, such as astral travel.

Concentration

Another key element to Thelemic mysticism is the ability to concentrate. This skill has two modalities: the first is the rapid, accurate, and efficient movement of thought (which is the realm of magick) and the other is the stopping of thought altogether (which is accomplished in Yoga). In the first, it is the manipulation of all ideas into one idea, and in the second is the taking of that one thought and reducing it to nothing.^[e]

Concentration is essentially the prerequisite for all sustained success, not only in spiritual practices, but in day-to-day life as well. The general program for developing concentration is borrowed almost completely from the practice of Yoga within the Hindu and Buddhist systems. Crowley gives a general overview of the techniques in two books: Eight Lectures on Yoga^[9] and in the section called "Mysticism" in Magick (Book 4).^[10]

Body of light

Main article: Body of light

Crowley referred to the 'augoeides', a Greek term for the body of light, and connected it with 'the Knowledge & Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel' associated with each human being.^[11][12] He stressed that the body of light must be built up though the use of imagination, and that it must then be animated, exercised, and disciplined.^[13] According to Asprem (2017):

The practice of creating a "body of light” in imagination builds on the body-image system, potentially working with alterations across all of its three modalities (perceptual, conceptual, and affective): an idealized body is produced (body-image model), new conceptual structures are attached to it (e.g., the doctrine of multiple, separable bodies), while emotional attachments of awe, dignity, and fear responses are cultivated through the performance of astral rituals and protections from "astral dangers" through the simulation of symbols and magical weapons.^[13]

Crowley explains that the most important practices for developing the Body of Light are:^[14]

1. The fortification of the Body of Light by the constant use of rituals, by the assumption of god-forms, and by the right use of the Eucharist. 2. The purification and consecration and exaltation of that Body by the use of rituals of invocation. 3. The education of that Body by experience. It must learn to travel on every plane; to break down every obstacle which may confront it.

According to Crowley, the role of the body of light is broader than simply being a vehicle for astral travel — he writes that it is also the storehouse of all experience.^[f]

The benefit of astral travel is essentially one of education: it is akin to exploring one's own spiritual universe^[g] and understanding its fundamental components so that the one can eventually master it. The general object is the "control of the Astral Plane, the ability to find one's way about it, to penetrate such sanctuaries as are guarded from the profane, [and] to make such relations with its inhabitants as may avail to acquire knowledge and power, or to command service".^[15] Also, "one's apprehension of the Astral Plane must be accurate, for Angels, Archangels, and Gods are derived therefrom by analysis. One must have pure materials if one wishes to brew pure beer".^[15]

Crowley believed that what was experienced during "astral travel" was not relevant in terms of what is "real" or "unreal". He thought that the only value to this practice is in the utility it provides to the practitioner.^[h] He believed that the body of light is more important than simply for astral travel—that it is also the storehouse of all experiences.^[i]

Magick

Main article: Ceremonial magic

According to Crowley, there is a single definition of the purpose for ritual magick: to achieve Union with God through "the uniting of the Microcosm with the Macrocosm".^[16] Since this process is so arduous, it is also acceptable to use magick to develop the self (i.e. one's body of light) or to create ideal circumstances for the Work (e.g. having access to a place in which to do ritual undisturbed). There are many kinds of magick, but the categories of ritual that are recommended by Crowley include banishing unwanted forces, various forms of invocation, and the eucharist, which "consists in taking common things, transmuting them into things divine, and consuming them".^[5]

Milestones

Further information: A∴A∴ § Initiatory structure

Crowley often wrote that every practitioners's path will be unique. He also wrote that two major milestones are fundamental to Thelemic mysticism, which he called the knowledge of and conversation with one's Holy Guardian Angel and the crossing of the Abyss. Crowley wrote, "the two crises—the Angel and the Abyss—are necessary features in every career. The other tasks are not always accomplished in [any given order]".^[17]

Holy Guardian Angel

Main article: Holy Guardian Angel

Even though the Holy Guardian Angel (or HGA) is, in a sense, the “higher self”, it is often experienced as a separate being, independent from the experiencer. In the system of the A∴A∴ magical order, the single most important goal is to consciously connect with one's HGA, a process termed “Knowledge and Conversation.” By doing so, a magician becomes fully aware of their own True Will. For Crowley, this event was the single most important goal of any practitioner of magick.^[j]

In most of his writings, Crowley described the Holy Guardian Angel as one's "Silent Self", at times equitable with one's deepest unconscious. In later writings, he insisted that the HGA is an entirely separate and objective being. Whichever position is taken, the object remains the same—to gain an intimate spiritual connection so that one's True Will can become fully known and manifested. When using the Tree of Life as a guide, this event occurs in the Sphere of Tiphareth.

Crowley wrote Liber Samekh as an example of a ritual designed specifically for attaining the Knowledge and Conversation with one's HGA.^[18] In his notes to this ritual, Crowley sums up the key to success: “INVOKE OFTEN.” Another detailed description of the general operation is given in The Vision and the Voice, Aethyr 8.^[19]

Crossing the Abyss

Main article: Abyss (Thelema)

After one attains Knowledge and Conversation with the Holy Guardian Angel, a practitioner may choose to then reach the next major milestone: the crossing of the Abyss, the great gulf or void between the phenomenal world of manifestation and its noumenal source, that great spiritual wilderness which must be crossed by the practitioner to attain mastery.^[k]

According to Crowley, Choronzon is the Dweller in the Abyss; he is there as the final obstruction. If he is met with the proper preparation, then he is there to destroy the ego, which allows the practitioner to move beyond the Abyss. If unprepared, then the unfortunate traveller will be utterly dispersed into annihilation. Both Choronzon and the Abyss are discussed in Crowley's Confessions (ch. 66).^[l]

However, just on the other side of the Abyss awaits Babalon (in the sphere of Binah on the Tree of Life). She calls the practitioner to surrender completely, so that they may cross over.^{[citation needed]}

City of the Pyramids and the Night of Pan

Main article: Night of Pan

If a practitioner gives themselves to Babalon, as symbolised by the pouring of the practitioners' blood into Babalon's graal, they become impregnated in her, becoming a "Babe of the Abyss" who is then reborn as a Master and a Saint that dwells in the City of the Pyramids.^{[citation needed]}

The City of the Pyramids is the home to those practitioners that have crossed the great Abyss,^[1] having spilled all their blood in the Graal of Babalon. They have destroyed their earthly ego-identities, becoming nothing more than piles of dust (i.e. the remaining aspects of their True Selves without the self-sense of "I"). Within, they take on the name or title of Saint or Nemo (Latin for No-Man or No-One). In the system of A∴A∴ they are called Masters of the Temple. It is a step along the path of spiritual purification, and a spiritual resting place for those who have successfully shed their attachments to the mundane world.^[20]

The City exists under the Night of Pan, or N.O.X. The playful and lecherous Pan is the Greek god of nature, lust, and the masculine generative power. The Greek word Pan also translates as All, and so he is “a symbol of the Universal, a personification of Nature; both Pangenetor, "all-begetter," and Panphage, "all-devourer".^{[21][better source needed]} Pan is both the giver and the taker of life, and his Night is that time of symbolic death where the practitioner experiences unification with the All through the ecstatic destruction of the ego-self. In a less poetic symbolic sense, this is the state where one transcends all limitations and experiences oneness with the universe.^[1]

See also

• Astrotheology
• Magical formula

Notes

1. Crowley (1979), p. ^{[page needed]}: "I insist that in private life men should not admit their passions to be an end, indulging them and so degrading themselves to the level of the other animals, or suppressing them and creating neuroses. I insist that every thought, word and deed should be consciously devoted to the service of the Great Work. 'Whatsoever ye do, whether ye eat or drink, do all to the glory of God.'"
2. Crowley (1996), "Man": "The Quest of the Holy Grail, the Search for the Stone of the Philosophers—by whatever name we choose to call the Great Work—is therefore endless. Success only opens up new avenues of brilliant possibility. Yea, verily, and Amen! the task is tireless and its joys without bounds; for the whole Universe, and all that in it is, what is it but the infinite playground of the Crowned and Conquering Child, of the insatiable, the innocent, the ever-rejoicing Heir of Space and Eternity, whose name is MAN?"
3. Crowley (1973), ch. 4: "The Tree of Life has got to be learnt by heart; you must know it backwards, forwards, sideways, and upside down; it must become the automatic background of all your thinking. You must keep on hanging everything that comes your way upon its proper bough."
4. Crowley (1996), "Man": "The whole subject must be studied in the Book 777, and the main attributions committed to memory: then when by constant use the system is at last understood—as opposed to being merely memorised—the student will find fresh light break in on him at every turn as he continues to measure every item of new knowledge that he attains by this Standard. For to him the Universe will then begin to appear as a coherent and a necessary Whole."
5. Crowley (1973), ch. 16: "For concentration does indeed unlock all doors; it lies at the heart of every practice as it is of the essence of all theory; and almost all the various rules and regulations are aimed at securing adeptship in this matter. All the subsidiary work—awareness, one-pointedness, mindfulness and the rest—is intended to train you to this."
6. Crowley (1973), ch. 81: "In Magick, on the contrary, one passes through the veil of the exterior world (which, as in Yoga, but in another sense, becomes "unreal" by comparison as one passes beyond) one creates a subtle body (instrument is a better term) called the body of Light; this one develops and controls; it gains new powers as one progresses, usually by means of what is called "initiation:" finally, one carries on almost one's whole life in this Body of Light, and achieves in its own way the mastery of the Universe."
7. Crowley (1997), Appendix 3: "Every Magician possesses an Astral Universe peculiar to himself."
8. Crowley (1997), Appendix 3: "The 'reality' or 'objectivity' of these symbols is not pertinent to the discussion. [...] The Magician must not accept [my] account of the Astral Plane, [my] Qabalistic discoveries, [my] instructions in Magick. They may be correct in the main for most men; yet they cannot be wholly true for any save [myself], even as no two artists can make identical pictures of the same subject [...] What one sees and hears is 'real' in its way, whether it be itself, or distorted by one's desires, or created by one's personality [...] The true, the final test, of the Truth of one's visions is their Value. The most glorious experience on the Astral plane, let it dazzle and thrill as it may, is not necessarily in accordance with the True Will of the seer; if not, though it be never so true objectively, it is not true for him, because not useful for him."
9. Crowley (1973), ch. 81: "In Magick, on the contrary, one passes through the veil of the exterior world (which, as in Yoga, but in another sense, becomes 'unreal' by comparison as one passes beyond) one creates a subtle body (instrument is a better term) called the Body of Light; this one develops and controls; it gains new powers as one progresses, usually by means of what is called 'initiation': finally, one carries on almost one's whole life in this Body of Light, and achieves in its own way the mastery of the Universe."
10. Crowley (1973), ch. 83: "It should never be forgotten for a single moment that the central and essential work of the Magician is the attainment of the Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel. Once he has achieved this he must of course be left entirely in the hands of that Angel, who can be invariably and inevitably relied upon to lead him to the further great step—crossing of the Abyss and the attainment of the grade of Master of the Temple."
11. Crowley (1996), "Man": "This doctrine is extremely difficult to explain; but it corresponds more or less to the gap in thought between the Real, which is Actual, and the Unreal, which is Ideal. In the Abyss all things exist, indeed, at least in posse, but are without any possible meaning; for they lack the substratum of spiritual Reality. They are appearances without Law. They are thus Insane Delusions."
12. Crowley (1979), ch. 66: "The name of the Dweller in the Abyss is Choronzon, but he is not really an individual. The Abyss is empty of being; it is filled with all possible forms, each equally inane, each therefore evil in the only true sense of the word—that is, meaningless but malignant, in so far as it craves to become real. These forms swirl senselessly into haphazard heaps like dust devils, and each such chance aggregation asserts itself to be an individual and shrieks, "I am I!" though aware all the time that its elements have no true bond; so that the slightest disturbance dissipates the delusion just as a horseman, meeting a dust devil, brings it in showers of sand to the earth."

References

Citations

1. York (2018), pp. 205–206.
2. Crowley (1973), "Letter C".
3. Crowley (1976), ch.1, v. 22.
4. Crowley (1979), p. ^{[page needed]}.
5. Crowley (1997), p. ^{[page needed]}.
6. Crowley (1982).
7. Bonner (2002), p. 16.
8. Knight (1978).
9. Crowley (1985).
10. Crowley (1997).
11. Michael (2005).
12. Sutin (2002).
13. Asprem (2017), p. 40.
14. Crowley (1997), p. 284.
15. Crowley (1997), Appendix 3.
16. Crowley (1997), ch. 1.
17. Crowley (1979), ch. 2.
18. Crowley (1997), "Liber Samekh".
19. Crowley (1998), Aethyr 8.
20. Crowley (1998), Aethyr 14.
21. Apiryon (1995).

Works cited

Primary sources

• Crowley, Aleister (1973). Magick Without Tears. Falcon Press.
• Crowley, Aleister (1976). The Book of the Law: Liber AL vel Legis. York Beach, Maine: Weiser Book. ISBN 978-0-87728-334-8.
• Crowley, Aleister (1979). The Confessions of Aleister Crowley. London & Boston: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
• Crowley, Aleister (1982). 777 and other Qabalistic writings of Aleister Crowley. York Beach, Maine: S. Weiser.
• Crowley, Aleister (1985). "Eight Lectures on Yoga". The Equinox. Phoenix, AZ: Falcon Press. III (4). ISBN 0-941404-36-6.
• Crowley, Aleister (1996). Little Essays Towards Truth. Tempe, AZ: New Falcon Pub.
• Crowley, Aleister (1997). Magick: Liber ABA, Book 4, Parts I-IV (2nd rev. ed.). Boston: Weiser. ISBN 0877289190.
• Crowley, Aleister (1998). "The Vision & the Voice". The Equinox. York Beach, Maine: Samuel Weiser. IV (2).

Secondary sources

• Apiryon, T. (1995). "Pan". The Invisible Basilica of Sabazius. Ordo Templi Orientis. Retrieved September 12, 2022.
• Asprem, E. (2017). "Explaining the Esoteric Imagination". Aries. 17 (1): 17–50. doi:10.1163/15700593-01701002.
• Bonner, John (2002). Qabalah: A Magical Primer. Red Wheel Weiser. ISBN 978-1578632114.
• Knight, Gareth (1978). A Practical Guide to Qabalistic Symbolism. Weiser Books. ISBN 978-0877283973.
• Michael, John (2005). The New Encyclopedia of the Occult.
• Sutin, Lawrence (2002). Do What Thou Wilt: A Life of Aleister Crowley. Macmillan. ISBN 978-0312252434.
• York, Michael (2018). Pagan Mysticism: Paganism as a World Religion. United Kingdom: Cambridge Scholars Publishing. ISBN 978-1527535114.

Other sources

• Thelemapedia. (2006). Thelemic mysticism. Retrieved April 21, 2006.

Further reading

• Campbell, Colin D. (2018). Thelema: An Introduction to the Life, Work & Philosophy of Aleister Crowley. Llewellyn Worldwide. ISBN 978-0738751047.
• Clukey, A. (2014). "Enchanting Modernism: Mary Butts, Decadence, and the Ethics of Occultism". Modern Fiction Studies. 60 (1): 78–107. doi:10.1353/mfs.2014.0003. S2CID 161852959.
• Corrias, A. (2013). "From Daemonic Reason to Daemonic Imagination: Plotinus and Marsilio Ficino on the Soul's Tutelary Spirit". British Journal for the History of Philosophy. 21 (3): 443–462. doi:10.1080/09608788.2013.771608. S2CID 170479884.
• DuQuette, Lon Milo (2003). The Magick of Aleister Crowley: A Handbook of the Rituals of Thelema. Weiser Books. ISBN 978-1578632992.
• Lycourinos, Damon (2017). "Sexuality, Magic(k) and the Ritual Body: A Phenomenology of Embodiment and Participation in a Modern Magical Ritual". Journal of Ritual Studies. 31 (2): 61–77. JSTOR 44988498.
• Morgan, M. (2011). "The Heart of Thelema: Morality, Amorality, and Immorality in Aleister Crowley's Thelemic Cult". The Pomegranate. 13 (2): 163–183. doi:10.1558/pome.v13i2.163.
• Shoemaker, David (2013). Living Thelema: A Practical Guide to Attainment in Aleister Crowley's System of Magick. Anima Solis Books. ISBN 978-0989384414.
• Whitehouse, D. (2020). "'Mercury is in a Very Ape-Like Mood': Frieda Harris's Perception of Thelema". Aries. 21 (1): 125–152. doi:10.1163/15700593-02101005. S2CID 230539828.