Thelema
<p ><b>Thelema</b> (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_English" title="Help:IPA for English" >/</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_English#Key" title="Help:IPA for English" >θ</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_English#Key" title="Help:IPA for English" >ə</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_English#Key" title="Help:IPA for English" >ˈ</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_English#Key" title="Help:IPA for English" >l</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_English#Key" title="Help:IPA for English" >iː</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_English#Key" title="Help:IPA for English" >m</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_English#Key" title="Help:IPA for English" >ə</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_English" title="Help:IPA for English" >/</a>) is a religion based on a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophical_law" title="Philosophical law" class="mw-redirect" >philosophical law</a> of the same name, which has been adopted as a central tenet by some religious organizations. The law of Thelema is "Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law. Love is the law, love under will." The law of Thelema was developed in the early 1900s by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleister_Crowley" title="Aleister Crowley" >Aleister Crowley</a>, an <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_people" title="English people" >English</a> writer and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ceremonial_magic" title="Ceremonial magic" >ceremonial magician</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-Moore_2-0" class="reference" ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thelema#cite_note-Moore-2" >[2]</a></sup> He believed himself to be the prophet of a new age, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aeon_(Thelema)" title="Aeon (Thelema)" >Æon of Horus</a>, based upon a spiritual experience that he and his wife, Rose Edith, had in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egypt" title="Egypt" >Egypt</a>in 1904.<sup id="cite_ref-3" class="reference" ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thelema#cite_note-3" >[3]</a></sup> By his account, a possibly non-corporeal or "praeterhuman" being that called itself <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aiwass" title="Aiwass" >Aiwass</a> contacted him and dictated a text known as <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Book_of_the_Law" title="The Book of the Law" >The Book of the Law</a></i> or <i>Liber AL vel Legis</i>, which outlined the principles of Thelema.<sup id="cite_ref-Wilson_4-0" class="reference" ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thelema#cite_note-Wilson-4" >[4]</a></sup> An adherent of Thelema is a<i>Thelemite</i>.
The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thelema#Cosmology" title="Thelema" >Thelemic pantheon</a> includes a number of deities, primarily a trinity adapted from<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Egyptian_religion" title="Ancient Egyptian religion" >ancient Egyptian religion</a>, who are the three speakers of <i>The Book of the Law</i>: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuit" title="Nuit" >Nuit</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hadit" title="Hadit" >Hadit</a>and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heru-ra-ha" title="Heru-ra-ha" >Ra-Hoor-Khuit</a>. Crowley described these deities as a "literary convenience".<sup id="cite_ref-5" class="reference" ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thelema#cite_note-5" >[5]</a></sup> The religion is founded upon the idea that the 20th century marked the beginning of the Aeon of Horus, in which a new ethical code would be followed; "Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law". This statement indicates that adherents, who are known as Thelemites, should seek out and follow their own true path in life, known as their <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/True_Will" title="True Will" >True Will</a><sup id="cite_ref-6" class="reference" ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thelema#cite_note-6" >[6]</a></sup> rather than their egotistic desires.<sup id="cite_ref-7" class="reference" ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thelema#cite_note-7" >[7]</a></sup> The philosophy also emphasizes the ritual practice of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magick_(Aleister_Crowley)" title="Magick (Aleister Crowley)" class="mw-redirect" >Magick</a>.
The word <i>thelema</i> is the English transliteration of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koine_Greek" title="Koine Greek" >Koine Greek</a> noun θέλημα (<small>pronounced</small> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_Greek" title="Help:IPA for Greek" >[θélima]</a>) "will", from the verb θέλω "to will, wish, purpose." As Crowley developed the religion, he wrote widely on the topic, producing what are collectively termed the<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holy_Books_of_Thelema" title="Holy Books of Thelema" class="mw-redirect" >Holy Books of Thelema</a>. He also included ideas from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occult" title="Occult" >occultism</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoga" title="Yoga" >Yoga</a> and both <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_mysticism" title="Eastern mysticism" class="mw-redirect" >Eastern</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_mysticism" title="Western mysticism" class="mw-redirect" >Western</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mysticism" title="Mysticism" >mysticism</a>, especially the<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qabalah" title="Qabalah" class="mw-redirect" >Qabalah</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-8" class="reference" ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thelema#cite_note-8" >[8]</a></sup></p>
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