Glossary - exWitch Australia (formerly 'Born Again Pagan')

THELEMA

Aleister Crowley in Cermonial Regalia

The Occult religious movement founded by Aleister Crowley. In the broad sense thelema is the Greek word for will. Crowley's concept of Thelema is based on the philosophical writings of Frederich W Nietzsche (1844-1900) who rejected accepted moral values, arguing against the existence of God and that individuals were free to create their own values, based on the strong imposing their will on the weak.

Crowley supported the belief that human progress was only possible by discovering ones own true will and making it effective. However, he went on to assert that, in accepting the Laws of Thelema, one had also to accept that that the Liber Al Vel Legis is a divinely inspired Book of the Law. The Liber Al Vel Legis offers a number of principles: that the true self is discovered magically and that the strong will rule over the weak in the new Aeon when morality will become irrelevant. It must be considered, however, that the Liber Al Vel Legis contains a considerable level of drug-induced gibberish and much of it is highly obscure.

PLEASE NOTE:
One of the major problems with 'defining' Paganism and/or its beliefs and practices is that it is an 'organic' movement, in that it is undergoing constant change and re-evaluation from within, and as such any 'one-size-fits-all' approach to understanding Paganism will be found wanting.

Due to the very 'organic' nature of Paganism, and the many differing Paths and Traditions within it, in many cases no one definition may be universally accepted by all Pagans. Therefore, where such cases of possible conflicting and/or contradictory meanings of certain terms occur I have endevoured to give not only the generally accepted meaning, but also any major 'variations' in belief and/or practice.

Christians who believe this difference in meaning of certain key terms, beliefs and practices to be unique to Paganism need to remember that such conflicts also arise within the Body of Christ - the Church. Take for instance the differing practices amongst Christians concerning Baptism and the different attitudes towards women in the clergy.

- Jean-Luc