Thelema Revisited: A Critique

[ashkosis]

I am posting this for two reasons: lots of people seem to think I'm still a Thelemite and I wanted to explain why I no longer am. I have no interest in insulting anyone and I am happy for all those who find Thelema to be rewarding. At the moment, I don't have much time for drama, so I'm only willing to reply to thoughtful, even-handed comments.

Comments

[ashkosis]

Five years ago I would have disagreed with several of my conclusions as well :) Free inquiry and curious investigation are generally not compatible with stable religious belief.

[ashkosis]

With my amazing power of hindsight, it seems like I would eventually have ended up more or less where I am now. Over the years of involvement with Thelema, my credulity regarding magick, angels, and astral realms faded, and was snuffed out when I went through my graduate program in psychology. I think it was that education, plus the more intolerant, fundamentalist voices coming to the fore in OTO that accelerated my exit. But you are right...had a different set of events occurred in my life, it is very likely I'd be someplace different at this moment.

And don't worry, we all live in a place of magick! Even if I no longer believe in the supernatural, we share a world of amazing wonders and a brain that can experience the profound and the exhilarating.

Gnosis and "Proof"

[panshiva]

"Others will say that I am a blind and foolish slave, fearfully clinging to a past Aeon. Maybe they're right-perhaps Thelema really is the one true religion. Perhaps it is true that the angel Aiwass spoke the new Law to Aleister Crowley in 1904, anointing him as the Prophet of the New Aeon for all Mankind, establishing the heavenly rule of Ra-Hoor-Khuit, His Will administered by the Secret Chiefs and sanctified by His divine parents, Nuit and Hadit, who ordained The Great Beast and His Scarlet Women (O! Holy Concubines of Babalon) that they might open the doors to the Palace of Wisdom for all who are Strong enough to partake of the fiery Sacrament. I can't prove that those ideas aren't true, just as I can't disprove that perfect faith in Jesus will bring me salvation, that killing infidels will earn me 72 virgins in heaven, or that the form of my next reincarnated life depends on the karma I gather

Re: Gnosis and "Proof"

[ashkosis]

I have no doubt that had I continued to work within Thelema I would have developed different "relationships" with it. But my critiques aren't about relationships with occult concepts, but about what qualifies as valid knowledge and what types of practices are worthwhile. "Trans-rational awakenings" are common in most religious traditions, and I have no reason to believe that those of Thelema are any more veridical that those of any other system. You are welcome to adopt subjective experience as equal to scientific inquiry if you wish, but I have given my (brief) case that the two are not of equal value when it comes to establishing the nature of reality. On the question of what is worthwhile, that is a personal question that is unique to everyone, as I pointed out in the essay.

Epistemology of the "worthwhile"

[panshiva]

By what standard do you deem yourself capable of judging the worthwhileness of a tradition when you yourself have only skimmed it's surface and are only dealing with it from a superficial standard?

Re: Epistemology of the "worthwhile"

[ashkosis]

I'm not sure I can agree that 15 years of regular study and practice constitutes a superficial skimming of the surface. But that aside, you bring up a great point about standards of judgment. How do we know things? What standards do we use to determine various data? In the essay, I made the argument that even with its imperfections, scientific inquiry has the best track record for developing reliable and useful models of reality. Since you are interested, I'd recommend this SciAm essay on science as it relates to the supernatural...it does a better job of explaining it than I could. In this light, you would be right not to accept my critiques on the grounds of implied expertise, but rather to approach them on their own merits.

[keter_magick]

You are still learning, that's all that matters. My Path is not your Path, my God is not your God, nor should it be...if/when you loop back to Thelema, it will be there for you. If you don't loop back, I am sure there's somewhere equally interesting to embrace you.

[ashkosis]

Thanks for your comment. Right now I'm finding Religious Naturalism and progressive humanism to be challenging and rewarding. Thelema was exciting and beneficial for me, but was never a very comfortable fit...I suppose it was inevitable that I would leave eventually. Although I now have some serious critiques of Thelema, it was in discovering those that I was able to articulate what my values and beliefs really were. I'm glad to know that there is enough overlap to maintain many valuable relationships.

[kitten_goddess]

I can say that if it weren't for Thelema, I would not have been able to grow up. When I came to Thelema at age 21, I was an adult only in the legal sense. I had the social and emotional maturity of a 13-year-old, in spite of my being a magna cum laude college graduate. I was also extremely dysfunctional in my relations with others. I had not progressed in any sense save the academic for eight years.

Thirteen years later, I am now as mature as others my age. I am now stable and also happily married to another Thelemite.

[ashkosis]

Your story is similar to mine. Looking back, I realize now that what helped me grow wasn't so much Thelema per se, but a group of amazing people who happened to be Thelemites. I am deeply grateful to them for it and they are the primary reason why I lack any regret for my involvement in Thelema.

[aq777]

Word.

[jonabbey]

I agree with the sentiments of your essay, though I came to a similar position some thirty years ago, rather than in my adulthood. Your lucid discussion of Thelema is fascinating to me, as I have never been informed about its tenets to anything like this level of specificity.

I am glad as well to know of formal Religious Naturalism. It captures quite clearly my own feelings of wonder and boundless awe in combination with a drive for skeptical analysis and an insistence on the pursuit of knowledge backed and limited by evidence.

May I ask with whom you find fellowship in RN?

[ashkosis]

Hi Jon. I'm not surprised about your lack of info about Thelemic doctrine...it is generally wrapped up in flowery, Victorian language intended to create an air of mystery and profundity. I think a big part of Thelemic practice is excavating the mountain of writings that AC left behind, which a lot of people enjoy. I did...until I realized what he was really saying, of course (see essay above).

Finding RN was a breath of fresh air for me, and I have my wife to thank for it. Alas, there are few real meat-space fellowships at the moment, although that is in the process of changing. UU churches sometimes have RN groups. I did not intend to self promote, but I have a nascent RN project called Sacred River. There is also an elist with some of the top thinkers, like Ursula Goodenough and J. Stone that is good for intellectual discussion.

[jonabbey]

Thanks!