Dear D G Mattichak jr wrote:
> I can't concur that magick is religion. It seems to me that magick is a parallel to religion and as Hutton points out in his book Triumph of the Moon, religious practice makes a supplication to the divine powers whereas magick attempts to control those same forces.
If you'll forgive me for saying but that's a very outmoded definition of
religion and indeed magick -
its in a long line of attempts to define on the basis of preconceived
dogma - if you actually take an anthropological approach
and define religion on the basis of what people actually do, you will find
that there are many magical practitioners who use magick for both
supplication and control, both and more etc.
Try asking a practioner (for example) and you will get a range of
results - eg: I do both.
Historically the magical practitioners of ancient Egypt were often
priests in the temple etc etc.
So as I say, it's more a question of why so many modern practitioners
have a linguistic taboo about the term "religion",
rather as early christians had a taboo about the term
"magick" but practiced it just the same.
"Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.
I proclaim the Law of Light, Life, Love, and Liberty in the name of IAO.
Love is the law, love under will.
I believe in one secret and ineffable LORD; and in one Star in the
Company of Stars of whose fire
we are created, and to which we shall return;
And in one Father of Life, Mystery of Mystery, in His name CHAOS, the
sole viceregent of the Sun upon the Earth;
And in one Air the nourisher of all that breathes.
And I believe in one Earth, the Mother of us all, and in one Womb
wherein all men are begotten, and wherein they shall rest, Mystery of
Mystery, in Her name BABALON.
And I believe in the Serpent and the Lion, Mystery of Mystery, in His
name BAPHOMET.
And I believe in one Gnostic and Catholic Church of Light, Life, Love
and Liberty, the Word of whose Law is THELEMA.
And I believe in the communion of Saints. And, forasmuch as meat and
drink are transmuted in us daily into spiritual substance, I believe in
the Miracle of the Mass.
And I confess one Baptism of Wisdom whereby we accomplish the Miracle of
Incarnation.
And I confess my life one, individual, and eternal that was, and is, and
is to come. AUM. AUM. AUM." [Gnostic Mass]
Mogg Morgan
> I also don't know whether Thelema is what is being practiced by those who perform Crowley's rituals such as the Gnostic Mass, after all the Book of the Law makes no mention of any such practice. It seems that there are those who would follow Crowley as some sort of messiah, following his compendium of practices without questioning Crowley's ability to actually understand the Book of the Law. The text of the Book of the Law is quite clear about Crowley's limited understanding of the Law which, to my mind at least, casts doubt on the practices that he devised for it. Whilst the ideas behind Thelema are not new it can be said that Thelema as we know it began in 1904 and so it is a modern interpretation of spirituality and not an ancient one.
> Also, I can understand Wicca trying to make a connection with a tradition that predates its public emergence in the 1950s but in light of the findings of modern historians it seems unlikely. It would seem to me to make more sense to embrace the modernity of Wicca as a strength, not everything of value spiritually has to have its roots in a long forgotten past. Perhaps, like everything else, religion must evolve with us in order to remain relevant in the present day.
> David G Mattichak jr
> Author of A Comment on the Verses of the Book of the Law
>
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