Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.
This post came up in my personal Facebook memories from 19 March 2022. Yeah. Three years ago! I had been working overnight in a residential youth shelter and was mulling over some ideas of what I thought would make a well-rounded Thelemic community center. And then some.
I’ve made some very minor corrections to improve clarity and a couple of side comments before reposting it here, but I’ll let it stand otherwise on its own. Admittedly, I originally posted this as a Note but then decided it was too long and workable as a small essay in its own right.
Trigger Warning: Comments Not Flattering to O.T.O.
Let’s be frank here. I’ve spent my entire adult life as an openly professed Thelemite. Nearly 2/3 of my adult life has been spent shouting into the wind. The first 1/3 of that was drowned out by those that promoted the radicalization of individualism, that Far-Right, Evangelical version of Thelema that said you had to “pull yourself up by your own bootstraps” or you weren’t a real Thelemite. And in my naïveté, I believed them—for a while. The next 1/3 of that adult life was sitting around hiding with a bruised ego.
The last 1/3 has been spent reframing ideas from the first 1/3 into what you see today. Apparently, it’s working out better this time around.
But I wasn’t idle. I’ve been interacting with Thelemites all over the world, of all different stripes, and experts in fields that are well beyond my own capabilities. They all have the same problem—they’re paralyzed by assumptions. They are paralyzed by the lack of community. Yes, I realize that there are groups that claim community is part of their program. But it remains isolated pockets of individuals here and there that have to claim communion in biannual meetings and roaming “leaders” that teach the same godawful bullshit over and over again without a single thought for how they could change the world. Oh, I know, exceptions exist. Don’t they always.
I have a dream. I’ve always had a dream.
Of course, I’d like to have a self-sustaining intentional community of Thelemites and those adjacent who are willing to live by an internal Rule based on the Law of Thelema.
But beyond that—and probably simpler yet just as unrealistic in our current environment of O.T.O.-dominant occulture (though, quite frankly, this is precisely the roadmap I would expect of a healthy O.T.O.)—I’d like to have a congregate of independent services collected under an umbrella organization specifically for the betterment of our own population (and generally for the world around us.)
But what, you ask, are these services. I’m glad you asked.
Community Food Bank and Sustainable Living Programme
Having a piece of land producing sustainable crop yields, supplemented by a donation-based grocery storefront and a kitchen to serve the homeless population and those struggling with food insecurity, will go a long way toward alleviating food insecurity in a centralized population.
Extend this to teaching small-build personal gardening for year-round supplemental vegetable additions at home or in a community garden setting, and you have the basis for an educational program that could also feed (no pun intended) into the shelter/crisis care, children’s education programs, and even mental health services as activities of daily living, therapeutic modalities, and wellness education.
Health Services Center
The health of the community is vital to its success and growth. Working through a community-based free clinic model, Health Services will provide physical, dental, vision, and prescription care to underserved populations as well as Thelemites-at-large.
Mental Health Services
Utilizing evidence-based modalities and a therapeutic approach that is based on the Law of Thelema, mental health is still a huge concern both in underserved populations and, quite frankly, within our own communities. Breaking down the barriers and stigma of mental health care, addiction treatment, and even medication therapies could go a long way to stabilizing our community while assisting the surrounding populations as well.
Aside from being an active therapist, I’ve talked a bit about the start of my small contribution toward this effort here: Alethiology, Part 1.
Children’s Advocacy and Education Center
A culture does not survive without the addition of children. Advocating for and educating children is a crucial part of culture stabilization. Within the larger demographic, again, assisting those children in difficult situations to manage, maintain, and thrive is the goal of all advocacy work.
Short Term Shelter and Crisis Intervention
Our community is not without its need for crisis intervention and assistance whether it be from domestic violence, sudden job loss, or natural disaster. Whatever the case may be, shelter and crisis intervention need to be woven into both the physical and mental health care agencies.
Elder Care and Assisted Living Center
Thelemites, as a population, are getting older—as communities do. One of the most overlooked aspects of an aging population is how to assist those more independent while offering care and more depth assistance for those in advanced age without the same level of independence. The ECAL Center is about providing options for elders by way of mentoring children in education, lay counseling in crises, and further assistance with activities of daily living (ADLs) as needed throughout the elder years.
Legal Advocacy
The most neglected aspect in our communities is legal advocacy, both in the sense of legitimizing our community’s religious needs, but also the individual representation for those without means or in situations of civil persecution. Having an office of legal advocacy would be vital to the whole project, not only in offering services for each of the other agencies but also for those in the surrounding community who are unable to secure legal representation against both petty and serious tyranny against life and property.
These are just some random thoughts tossed off the top of my head while working tonight. The only thing that I haven’t covered here is some kind of housing agency. I would love to see some kind of option both in building community housing and in renovating and repairing issues with houses. I’ve said this often enough: we have way too many tarot readers and astrologers and not enough plumbers and electricians within occulture. We need an agency that is dedicated to what most consider to be menial. We need to raise those trades to the level of service that equals the priests of our congregations.
I want to see real change in the world not this Victorian cosplay that continues to mouth the Law but never puts it into practice. The fact of the matter is that I know my own personal limitations. This dream of mine requires expertise that I don’t have. But O.T.O.’s approach—in. every. single. O.T.O. body. I’ve. been. in.—has been to suggest that if something I think of cannot be done by me alone, then it’s not worth discussing with others. This is O.T.O.’s downfall. It not only doesn’t play well with others, but it encourages its Body Masters and membership to not play well with each other internally or others externally.
My dream would change that. Instead of looking inward—toward Hadit, on a corporate level—it would start to look outward—toward Nuit, to the company of heaven—to every man and every woman who is a Star among Stars. It would stop with the selfish inbreeding of isolated thinking and start with the sharing of ideas, the mutation and evolution of processes, and the accomplishment of the Law in the real world.
But there you have it. Yet another pipe dream of Thelema doing good in the world around us.
Is any of this realistic? Probably not. Three years ago, there was some pretty good discussion about this. We agreed to avoid automobile maintenance services (all in good jest) but also that capitalism was the bane of every good endeavor. Every dream has shadows that have to be addressed. This one is no different.
Yet, at the same time, we’ve seen some drastic changes in the world in only three years that suggest tighter communities may be the way forward for smaller religious movements like Thelema to survive. This includes many of the necessities of an actual community rather than just cosplaying on the internet. It might not be to the extent that I’ve dreamed above, but at least many, to some degree or another.
Some day, we will have to take all our “calls to arms” seriously rather than just write them on the internet. We will have to start to congregate authentically rather than just congratulate ourselves for being authentic.
That includes me too.