Do What Thou Wilt Is The Whole Of The Law

I was very fortunate to be able to interview the charming Lon Milo DuQuette on March 23, at his home. Lon and his lovely wife Constance graciously opened their house up to me and my crew and gave generously of their time for the Moonrise interview.

Lon is an Archibishop in the OTO (Ordo Templi Orientis), the organization founded by Aleister Crowley which is a successor "magickal" organization to the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. The reason I absolutely had to have Lon Milo DuQuette in Moonrise is because of the importance of both Thelema and Aleister Crowley to the practice of magick throughout the so-called "pagan" world. Lon gave me a great interview, and makes a substantial contribution to the Moonrise project.

Put simply, if you are a Witch, Hermeticist, or pagan who uses any form of "magick" at all, and you have read any books on magick or got any training from anywhere or anyone in the modern western magickal traditions, you have been influenced directly or indirectly by the teachings of Aleister Crowley.

That's a fact that many people don't know. It's also a point that is intentionally ignored by some, because they don't like Aleister Crowley's reputation. Others I have met seem to have an almost Evangelical intolerance for Thelema, and miss no opportunity to knock it.

Niether of these states should be acceptable to the pagan community at large. An understanding of our past and history is said to be important in most pagan traditions, and in most Wiccan traditions is ethically required. And if we want to work magick, we should know the principles of it, who developed (or adapted) those principles, and why. And of course to bad-mouth any path without due cause is patently bigotted, and is something pagans say they don't do. Yet it is something we hear all the time.

The problem, it seems, is based on the perceived differences between the Wiccan ethic of "An it harm none, do what thou wilt", and the Law of Thelema, which is "Do what thou wilt is the whole of the law; Love is the law, love under Will". People who haven't studied Thelema, and who may have only a passing familiarity with Hermetic principles, often judge the Law of Thelema as meaning that you can do what you want, when you want, regardless of the effect of your actions on anyone else.

But the Law of Thelema isn't an ethic for daily life the same way the Wiccan Rede is. The whole point to Hermeticism (Thelema and Hermetics are really one and the same) is to discover one's "true will" and live life in accordance with it. "True will" meaning not what you want to do at this moment, but what you are, as a divine being, intended to fulfill in this life. It is, in fact the same goal of enlightenment we find in the heart of Wicca and many other religions. And it is a great mistake to apply The Law to one's actions the way the Rede is applied.

That many non-Hermeticists misconstrue the Law of Thelema is perhaps understandable, given the language; what I don't quite get is the number of apparently accomplished Thelemites and Hermeticists who seem to miss this simple truth. However, there is a stipulation in The Book of the Law that it shall not be interpreted for anyone; in other words, a student must discover the truth and meaning of the book for him or herself. Maybe this explains in a small part the fact that even some Thelemites don't get it. Perhaps the proscription prevents the Law from being explained to them, or they aren't astute enough to ask the right questions or attempt anything other than a surface analysis.

This s a natural difficulty with "mystery traditions" and "secret societies", a difficulty which both Wicca and Thelema have in common. Thelemites are sworn to reveal certain secrets only under certain circumstances. So explaining their Law to anyone is not something they are inclined to do, even when failing to do so breeds suspicion and contempt. I am, however, not a member of the OTO, and under no such restriction. I hope that some of my readers find this explanation enlightening, whether you are Wiccan, Thelemite, or somwhere else in the pagan universe.