I often get asked how Thelema and Luciferianism fit together, so below are some of my thoughts on this.
There are many schools of thought when it comes to Luciferianism, I follow Gnostic Luciferiansim, and I'm very much influenced by the writing of Michael W Ford, particularly his later work. In my opinion much of what Ford seems to be focused on is a personal version of Crowley's Thelema, therefore Thelema is the fundamental structure from which much of the Luciferianism belief system I follow has evolved. Most Gnostic Luciferians are drawn from other religions and belief systems. They may well draw upon some of the philosophical aspects of Gnostic Luciferianism and its dark magick rituals, but in general tend to bring their old religious/philosophical ideas with them and simply evolve them a little rather than replace them.
I started practising Thelema utilising the structure Crowley had developed. I have never gone through grades or joined the OTO, it just never took me there. I was interested in getting intellectual knowledge, studying the foundations of magic, religion, then establishing a magical record, and practice consistency. Those areas were very important to me.
The basic views of Thelema philosophy are:
1. Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law. - Always follow your True Will, which is separate from your personal ego and ultimate serves to reunite microcosm with macrocosm, the human with the divine.
2. Love is the law, love under will. Your True Will and another's True Will should never be in conflict, representing perfect harmony. Love is union, and love is the aim of the Will.
Luciferianism in general is considered to be very much a Left-Hand Path, focusing on the higher Self, seeking wisdom and illumination, rather than purely dwelling on the lower levels of self. It is about self-deification; self-deification also plays a large role within Thelema. It is about continually challenging yourself, seeking your goals with a passion, following your true will; the Higher Self will connect you to your true will, your passion in life. Crowley was very pointed in a foundation and a structure; he is known to urge his students to use magick for positive outcomes, building a future on a strong, positive foundation.
An important part of Thelema is the connection with your Holy Guardian angel, within Luciferiansim it is referred to as your Higher Self or as your Daemon by Michael W Ford. The Luciferian Angel is a union of two halves - the destructive and creative force. Darkness equals subconscious, your inner desire. The light which represents the developed will, the strength of character and discipline.
Whereas Crowley's Thelema is very much initiatory, strict, and rigid, Fords Luciferianism is more open to personalisation and is based more so on the self as opposed to any type of union with the divine.
By working with your Higher Self and using your imagination just like Crowley did with Thelema the goals of Luciferianism is to become illuminated and inspired in order to accomplish your goals. One of the things Crowley writes about is that ceremonial magick is a means of attainment of the identification with the god-head. Luciferians don't identify with a god-head, they illuminate the Higher Self and build that spirit through their workings, through their discipline, through their will. That for them is their god-head and upon physical death the theory is the Higher Self is immortal. Crowley goes on to explain that no matter if the aspirant is theist or atheist the goal is reaching that light of the Higher Self / Holy Guardian angel / Daemon. If you dont have that goal in performing ceremonial magic you are going to be directionless, floating aimlessly and your workings will mean nothing. Go have an adventure, do what you do and you will find the path of magic is just in that, the interaction with the world round you. Crowley was very big on that, he was a successful mountain climber, travelled all over the world, he followed his will.
Crowley was a chaos magician, he had a structure and a will; Luciferianism differs from chaos magic in that sense that it utilizes different cultural techniques for magickal practise. However like Thelema there is a will and design. Both Crowley and Ford invoke deific masks, a method simply utilizing and adopting the process of nature and the human sub-conscious direct will, the Higher Self and using that to shape and acquire knowledge, experience, power and going forward towards your continual goal which is always going to evolve.
Those are some of the similarities and differences which I find interesting, however if you continue delving there are many more, for example the similarities between the Thelema deities Nuit and Hadit, and the Luciferian Lilith and Lucifer.
A very informative and thought provoking article. There are so many similarities between Luciferianism, Thelema and to an extent Chaos magick that it's sometimes difficult to separate their ideologies.
