Metaphysics - The Thelemic Universe

Thelema is based around the book Liber AL vel Legis which is broken into three chapters. Although the entire book is understood to be delivered by 'Aiwass,' each chapter is spoken from a certain perspective. The first chapter is spoken by Nuit, who is "Infinite Space and the Infinite Stars thereof." She is depicted symbolically on the Stele of Revealing as the night sky, arched over the winged disk and figures below. The second chapter is spoken by Hadit, the unextended omnipresent point at the core of every star at the center of the infinite circumference (Nuit).

The third chapter is spoken by Ra-Hoor-Khuit - or more specifically Heru-Ra-Ha, "the 'true Name' of the Unity who is symbolized by the Twins Harpocrates and Horus" - who is the Ancient Egyptian amalgamation of Ra and Horus. Crowley writes in Liber Samekh, "In the new Aeon the Hierophant is Horus (Liber CCXX, I, 49) therefore the Candidate will be Horus too," and in his New Comment to Liber AL III:49 he writes, "this Solar-Phallic Ra Ha is Each Man Himself." It therefore represents the Godhead within every person.

Liber AL vel Legis also proclaims, "Every man and every woman is a star;" at the core of every star is Hadit and each star Goes through the infinite expanse of potential, Nuit, according to its own nature. Essentially, the Book of the Law - or Liber AL vel Legis - symbolically places everyone in this world where every man and every woman is a star. The sole Law guiding oneself and the Universe in Thelema is "Do what thou wilt." It is said in the Book of the Law that, "Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law" (AL I:40), "Thou hast no right but to do thy will" (AL I:42), and "There is no law beyond Do what thou wilt" (AL III:60). Each star, every things, follows its own nature, its own Will. Crowley writes, "'Do what thou wilt' is to bid Stars to shine, Vines to bear grapes, Water to seek its level; man is the only being in Nature that has striven to set himself at odds with himself..." -

0=2
A common shorthand for the ontology of Thelema is known as "0=2." This equation is a shorthand for the proclamation of Nuit in the first chapter of Liber AL vel Legis:


 * "None... and two. For I am divided for love's sake, for the chance of union. This is the creation of the world, that the pain of division is as nothing, and the joy of dissolution all." 

"None," or "Naught," or simply "0," refers to the un-differentiated non-dual substance, cognate with the Hindu 'Brahman' and/or 'Shiva,' the Chinese 'Tao,' the Buddhist 'Adi-Buddha,' the Gnostic 'pleroma,' etc. This "None" is another name for "Unity," and is used to imply the continuity of this substance. This notion comes from Liber AL when it is written,


 * "O Nuit, continuous one of Heaven, let it be ever thus; that men speak not of Thee as One but as None; and let them speak not of thee at all, since thou art continuous!" 

Crowley writes on this concept of "0" in his essay "Berashith,"


 * "When we say that the cosmos sprang from the 0, what kind of 0 do we mean? By 0 in the ordinary sense of the term we mean 'absence of extension in any of the categories...' Nothingness is that about which no positive proposition is valid. We cannot truly affirm: 'Nothingness is green, or heavy, or sweet...;  Let us call time, space, being, heaviness, hunger, the categories... This is the Advaitist idea of the future of man; his personality, bereft of all its qualities, disappears and is lost, while in its place arises the impersonal Unity, The Pleroma, Parabrahma, or the Allah of the Unity-adoring followers of Mohammed. (To the Muslim fakir, Allah is by no means a personal God.)   Unity is thus unaffected, whether or no it be extended in any of the categories." 

"Two" refers to the world we all are much more familiar with: the world of many dualities including light & dark, pain & pleasure, hot & cold, good & bad, etc. In Book of Lies, Crowley writes,


 * "This Abyss is also called "Hell", and "The Many". / Its name is "Consciousness", and "The Universe", among men. / But THAT which neither is silent, nor speaks, rejoices therein." 

"THAT" in the quotation above refers to the concept of "0"/None. This world of "Two" is also known as "the Many" (as opposed to the One or None), "Consciousness" since our awareness of ourselves presupposes "another" separate from ourselves, often labeled the 'environment,' and "The Universe" because this world of duality is what most men call "the Universe." This state is also called "Hell" in that this state of duality, of division, is the cause of suffering. In "De Lege Libellum," Crowley writes,


 * "Understand now that in yourselves is a certain discontent. Analyse well its nature: at the end is in every case one conclusion. The ill springs from the belief in two things, the Self and the Not-Self, and the conflict between them. This also is a restriction of the Will. He who is sick is in conflict with his own body: he who is poor is at odds with society: and so for the rest. Ultimately, therefore, the problem is how to destroy this perception of duality, to attain to the apprehension of unity."

Since we live in this world of duality & division, our natural solution is to attain to unity. The one difference between Thelema and other religions is that this initial division is not seen as "Original Sin" or the "Fall of man" or anything negative. Nuit is "divided for love's sake, for chance of union," therefore division is not purely suffering but it allows us to unite in love and ecstasy. Without division there could be no love, for love requires both a lover and a loved one. This process is described commonly as "the Great Work" and "the Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel."


 * "The world exists as two, for only so can there be known the Joy of Love, whereby are Two made One. Aught that is One is alone, and has little pain in making itself two, that it may know itself, and love itself, and rejoice therein."

Resources

 * Berashith (1898)
 * De Lege Libellum (1919)
 * Liber V vel Reguli
 * Individuation and the true Will (2007)

Related links

 * Department of Thelemic Studies
 * Basics of Thelema
 * Thelemic Ethics
 * The Practice of Thelema