the magick of thelema

277 Pages·2011·29.89 MB·English

LON MILO DUQUETTE
THE
MAGICK
OF THELEMA
A Handbook of the Rituals of
Aleister Crowley
THE
MAGICK
OF THELEMA
The Tree of Life. (Source: Crowley: Magick Without Tears, 777
Revised, and The Book of Thoth; reproduced by Hymenaeus
Beta, copyright © 1993 O. T O.)
THE
MAGICK
OF THELEMA
A Handbook of the Rituals of
Aleister Crowley
LON MILO DUQUETTE
SAMUEL WEISER, INC.
York Beach, Mame
First published in 1993 by
Samuel Weiser, Inc.
Box 612
York Beach, Maine 03910
Copyright © 1993 Lon Milo DuQuette
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or
transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical,
including photocopy, without permission in writing from the publisher.
Reviewers may quote brief passages.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
DuQuette, Lon Milo
The magick of Thelema : a handbook of the rituals of Aleister
Crowley / by Lon Milo DuQuette.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Magic. 2. Occultism. 3. Crowley, Aleister, 1875-1947.
I. Title.
BF1611.D87 1993
133.4'4~dc20 93-10004
CIP
ISBN 0-87728-778-3
EB
The symbol on the cover is Crowley's personal sigil, "The Mark of the
Beast." It depicts the union of the Sun and Moon within the seven-
pointed star of Babalon.
Photographs on page 62,63,64, and 65 copyright © 1993 Paul Maska.
Typeset in 11 point Palatino
Printed in the United States of America
99 98 97 96 95 94 93
10 987654321
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of
the American National Standard for Permanence of Paper for Printed
Library Materials Z39.48-1984.
DEDICATION
To my wife of twenty-six years,
Saint Constance of the Well, Our Lady of Perpetual Motion,
this work is lovingly dedicated.
"There is no bond that can unite the divided but love/'
—Liber AL vel Legis, I. 41.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Foreword by Hymenaeus Beta X° ix
Acknowledgments xi
Introduction xiii
CHAPTER ONE
The Magick of Will 1
CHAPTER TWO
The Evolution of Magical Formulae 5
CHAPTER THREE
The Book of the Law 17
CHAPTER FOUR
The Pentagram Rituals 51
CHAPTER FIVE
The Thelemic Rituals of the Pentagram 77
The Star Ruby & Liber V vel Reguli
CHAPTER SIX
The Hexagram Rituals 113
CHAPTER SEVEN
The Thelemic Ritual of the Hexagram 123
The Star Sapphire
CHAPTER EIGHT
Knowledge and
Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel 133
Liber Samekh
CHAPTER NINE
The Solar Rites 185
Liber Resh & The Mass of the Phoenix
CHAPTER TEN
Thelemic Mysticism 199
Liber NV & Liber HAD
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Thelemic Orders 215
CHAPTER TWELVE
The Religion of Thelema 225
The Mass ofEcclesia Gnostica Catholica
Bibliography 249
Index 257
About the Author 271
FOREWORD
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.
Aleister Crowley possessed far too much technical knowl
edge of magick to readily understand the problems of ordi
nary students. He frequently asked his younger colleagues to
help make his teachings more accessible, and once explained
that "It's the sort of thing I can't do myself, not knowing the
scope of the mind of the 'gentle reader/"
Like other "gentle readers" who have delved into
Crowley's system on their own, Brother DuQuette found
many of the gaps and pitfalls in the system by the time-
honored method of falling into them, scrambling out, and
trying again until he crossed them. The present work incor
porates many of the results of his personal work.
What is true of science holds true for scientific illumin-
ism. DuQuette is the first to allow that while some of his
findings may be replicated by future experimenters, others
are subjective personal interpretation. But even the latter are
invaluable as suggesting other lines of investigation, and as
examples of the kind of personalization of the system that
enables the magician to make it his or her own.
DuQuette also drew on recent research by other stu
dents that will be formally published in the forthcoming one
volume edition of Crowley's Book Four. Speaking of Lon Milo
DuQuette's mythical eponym, Crowley wrote in Part II of
his Book Four that "Milo began by carrying a newborn calf;
and day by day as it grew into a bull, his strength was found
sufficient." It is not stretching the metaphor too far to suggest
that the present work will be useful to many students as an
introductory guide to those portions of Crowley's magnum
opus dealing with ceremonial magick.
Occultism frequently gives ample grounds for criticism
to its detractors by making insupportable claims for vaguely
defined powers, the whole compassed by nonsensical the
ory. As Israel Regardie did before him, DuQuette avoids this
by writing from his own experience, with a healthy leaven
ing of common sense and a refreshing sense of humor.
Love is the law, love under will.
Hymenaeus Beta X°
Frater Superior, O. T. O.