by Homeless Halo » Tue Oct 11, 2005 5:47 pm
banned: It might seem a no brainer to you, on the outside, I suppose. However, normally one must "believe" in satan in order to worship him. And one must worship Satan to be a Satanist. Crowley neither believed in Satan, nor worshipped him (or anything else).<br> Many of the Beast's comments about "satan" were tongue in cheek *pokes* at the mainstream Puritan Christianity he was plagued by in England. Although it is a commonly held belief that Crowley worshipped satan, it cannot be true, based on the simple fact that Crowley know what most students of comparative religion know: Satan doesn't exist, and he never did. He is entirely an invention of Christianity's paranoia.<br><br>Jeff does a good job of exposing satanism, but it often appears he knows as little about the occult as your average ranting fundie preacher who warns against the dangers of Led Zepplin played backwards...<br><br>No offense to Jeff, but he overstates his emphasis towards satanism, and seems to "connect dots" more than filling in dots.<br><br>Those of us who are Thelemites, like Crowley was, have been called Satanists for about 101 years now. While we have become accustomed to it, and you've begun to *assume* the accuracy of such a claim, neither of these facts makes it true. We are not satanists. we do not worship satan. we do not believe in "satan" as the devil. as in a literal manifestation of evil. <br><br>Jesus didn't believe in the Devil, why should I?<br><br>I could explain the Thelemic position on the devil called Satan, but it could easily take longer than we have.<br><br>Suffice it to say that the Thelemics follow a Gnostic form of Christianity as interpreted in the light of more ancient worldviews (in particular Sumer and Egypt). <br><br>We examine the existence and validity of a number of "entities" but Satan is not one of them. Never was. Never will be. Any Thelemic group engaging in Satan worship is no more a Thelemite than Chuck E Cheese is.<br>Worship is anathema to Thelema.<br><br>Of course most of this is the fault of former Thelemites engaging in unsavory activities, including their modern involvement with RA and actual satanic cults.<br><br> The books of prophecy in the Bible, including the Last Book, are viewed from a different perspective by Thelema, that is, in the light of Traditional Jewish mysticism and its "double speak".<br><br>(Malkuth is the bottom sphere on the Jewish tree of life, which corresponds to the Material world. Claiming no authority beyond this earth is akin, in mysticism, to admitting the fallen nature of one's cult, as the OTO current has done, somewhat recently)<br><br>OI you seem to be caught in the anti-egoism made fashionable again with the modern importation of Eastern religious ideas. Remember, those are just ideas too.<br> <br>The third veil of Thelema, practically non-existant among the "official" cults (just as the "official" christians no longer practive love or mercy as dogma), involves a series of internal/external martial arts practices. The beginning series has even been adopted by American and British Remote Viewers, etc. This is possibly one of the reasons why there are no Thelemic branches teaching it currently, in the mainstream at least.<br><br>Sex magick, the second veil, as you've said, really only is useful for two things. One, really interesting sex. Two, to be abused and coopted for MC purposes. It is the second of these which is more common today.<br><br>The first veil is what eventually became Chaos magic.<br>The "thought forms" you speak of, commonly employed by the GD and Theosophists, etc. "Low magic" Crow would call it. This is why it is almost the only thing you can find in a bookstore...<br><br>The third veil is what eventually became the modern military's experiments in the paranormal, through Crow's contacts, after his death, and against his warnings.<br><br>(Even Jeff has shown Crow's connections to Parsons and Hubbard, but neglected to mention that Crow said they were "idiots" for doing the Babalon Working, and personally attempted to intervene and remove Hubbard. He also chastised Parsons for his communications with unsavory beings. Jeff noticed none of this, even though it is as easy to find as the other information is)<br><br>It is this veil which is never admitted by the modern Thelemic organizations (even though it was published during Crow's lifetime, it is not "available" today), I am certain, because it represents a great threat to their ability to continue to abuse the practices as they do.<br><br>Thelema is not impressed with your lack of vision and understanding. We are annoyed at the continuing view of us as "satanists" when the truth has been available for the masses for over 80 years. Do some research, don't let Jeff, or anyone else tell you how to think about the occult. <br><br>Some people are just inherently afraid of the unknown. I consider them as much my enemy as those that do know, and misuse their knowledge. Perhaps they are worse, because they make it harder to combat the LHP. <br><br>Crow even left instructions for dealing with the Black Brotherhood, and a list of traits whereby you can differentiate them from other initiates.<br><br>Of course, its easier to ignore all of this, and label all occultists as "satanists" than it is to read a bit.<br><br>Who benefits from this apathy towards truth?<br><br><br> <p></p><i></i>