THELEMA

Definitions

In Classical Greek

In Classical Greek there are two words for will:

thelema (θέλημα) and boule (βουλή).

Boule means 'determination', 'purpose', 'intention', 'counsel', or 'project'

Thelema means 'divine will', 'inclination', 'desire', or 'pleasure'[13]

'Thelema' is a rarely used word in Classical Greek. There are very few documents, the earliest being Antiphon the Sophist (5th century BCE).

In antiquity it was beside the divine will which a man performs, just as much for the will of sexual desire.

The intention of the individual was less understood as an overall, generalized, ontological place wherever it was arranged.[14]

The verb thelo appears very early (Homer, early Attic inscriptions) and has the meanings of "ready", "decide" and "desire" (Homer, 3, 272, also in the sexual sense).

"Aristotle says in the book On Plants that the goal of the human will is perception - unlike the plants that do not have 'epithymia' (translation of the author). "Thelema", says the Aristoteles, "has changed here, 'epithymia'", and 'thelema', and that 'thelema' is to be neutral, not somehow morally determined, the covetous driving force in man."

In the Old TestamenT

In the Septuagint the term is used for the will of God himself, the pious desire of the God-fearing, and the royal will of a secular ruler. It is thus used only for the representation of high ethical willingness in the faith, the exercise of authority by the authorities, or the non-human will, but not for more profane striving.[14] In the Septuagint, the terms boule and thelema appear, whereas in the Vulgate text, the terms are translated into the Latin voluntas ("will"). Thus, the different meaning of both concepts was lost.

In the New Testament

In the original Greek version of the New Testament the word thelema is used 62 or 64[16] times, twice in the plural (thelemata). Here, God's will is always and exclusively designated by the word thelema (θέλημα, mostly in the singular), as the theologian Federico Tolli points out by means of the Theological Dictionary of the New Testament of 1938 ("Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven"). In the same way the term is used in Paul the Apostle and Ignatius of Antioch. For Tolli it follows that the genuine idea of Thelema does not contradict the teachings of Jesus.[14]

Crowley claimed to have been contacted by a supernatural entity named Aiwass, who provided him with The Book of the Law, a sacred text that served as the basis for Thelema.

Announcing the start of the Æon of Horus, The Book declared that its followers should adhere to the code of "Do what thou wilt" and seek to align themselves with their Will through the practice of magick.

He was denounced in the popular press as "the wickedest man in the world" and a Satanist.