A Way of Spiritual Formation Maturity in the Aeon of the Child

Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.

If there is one thing that continues to plague my thinking about modern Thelema, it is something a mentor of mine once said—and I’m paraphrasing here—that just because Crowley was a magician doesn’t mean that everyone in the world wants or needs to be a magician too. All the magical clap-trap just isn’t necessary to grasp the depth of Thelema.

Sure, sure: you’re not going to get to pander to your personal prejudices without having a firm grasp of qaballa or some obscure number-crunching. And you might miss some of that super important reading between the lines to figure out if you’re the next “secret child of the prophet.” But other than that, nah, you’ll be fine.¹This isn’t to knock people that love that kind of thing. More power to them! But suggesting that the only way to get any depth from Thelema is by participating in confirmation bias seems a bit “out there.” Remember, there is a reason the Book of the Law is written at a sixth-grade reading level.

Frankly, it is quite easy to fall into the trap of secret societies and initiations and … woo … when that is one’s interest. But what about the other 99.99% of the world? The Law is for all, right? The stagnation in the expressions of the Law, hindered by the monopoly of pseudo-masonic “secret” societies and reconstructive paganism, misses the mark when it comes to the promulgation of the Law to the rest of the world.

I said previously:

The Book of the Law says, “the Law is for all” [AL 1.34]. The Law affects all areas of our life and approaching it as such offers a multitude of opportunities for the spread of the Law in unique and creative ways. The Book of the Law does not say it must be wrapped up only in a little red book or handed out with a qabalistic cheat sheet. It is for this reason the world remains virtually unmoved by the Law. In our arrogance to look mysterious and secret, we have failed to give the Law to all as they may understand it but only as we wish it to be understood.

Thelema is more than mere talk of a “Holy Guardian Angel”—and don’t get me started on the Cult of the Abyss—of initiation rituals, of dark, smokey rooms, and of pedantic number crunching for hidden meaning.

Some people want to experience more than the self-centered inversion of Thelema²Of course, there is the recent YouTube video attempting to define “fake Thelemites” that is making the rounds. It’s ridiculous, especially since the entertainer behind the video also meets nearly all the criteria he lists as a “fake Thelemite.” One wonders at the lack of self-awareness in some of these influencers. that has been handed down over the last fifty years through those same organizations that run initiation rituals in dark, smokey rooms and forget the garden of the real world needs tending too.

Spiritual Formation in the New Aeon

It seems that many within the Thelemic community have certainly woken up, but many have failed to grow up. Many mistake “the Aeon of the Crowned and Conquering Child” for some kind of immature approach to spirituality. Or what I call “Cosplay in the Aeon of the Spoiled Brat.” 

The question is often asked: so I’m a Thelemite, now what?

What follows is not a spiritual formation course outline or formal plan. It merely contains some ideas about spiritual formation and the process of growing up once one has woken up.

1. Discovery

Thelema’s foundation of spiritual formation is the discovery and embodiment of one’s True Will—the unique path or function a being is destined to fulfill within the cosmos.

However, as I’ve said before, while this is the “next step of humanity,” there are multiple ways up this mountain, and it’s not the most important part of the Thelemic narrative. You will always be headed in the direction of your True Will in some form or another. Discovering your ’True Will’ typically just leads to a lot of angst since no one spends any time with people working through it in any kind of systematic manner (or they’re grifting $400 to help you “write a True Will sentence.”) Knowing your ‘True Will,’ though, only makes the journey easier. However, ‘True Will’ is like a magnet that pulls you in a direction. Not knowing or fighting it makes life more difficult, certainly, but it doesn’t derail the pull.

In the language of the previous aeon,³Given the nature of aeonic drift, I think it is important to move away from old/new dichotomies of aeonic terminology and more into previous/present/future language. Even this isn’t ideal, but until I come up with a better language set for what I’m attempting to express, it will have to do for understanding my thoughts. the goal of spiritual life—of conversion⁴We need to be clearer in our approach to discussing Thelema. “If you are what you were, then you ain’t.” We really need to stop being afraid of language. Someone asked me the other day if I was afraid of Thelema becoming the next Christianity. Uh. What? Was anyone afraid of Christianity becoming the next Judaism? (Actually, yeah, they were, which is how we got the Pauline heresies so many follow today, but in the big picture, no, I doubt anyone stopped and held a council about ’should we be different than Judaism.’)—is Union with God (theosis). Crowley talks about this in Liber ABA: Magick. Much has been made about the so-called “Holy Guardian Angel” being God, usually based on Crowley’s line in One Star in Sight about “none knoweth the Name of his brother’s God.”⁵Crowley, Aleister, and Hymenaeus Beta. 1990. The Equinox: The Review of Scientific Illuminism : The Official Organ of the O.T.O.: The Equinox III(10). Weiser Books, 494. The problem with this take is, according to Crowley’s interpretation of Thelemic doctrine, we are already essentially united with God and existentially separated only by the intentional illusion of imperfection (duality).

In short, we did this to ourselves on purpose. So why are we attempting to undo it now?

Thelema doesn’t exist at the top of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. It is not a euphemism for self-actualization or a self-help system of attainment. Personal discovery is a spiritual and existential revolution through the transformation of lived experience, through our right relations (orthoschesis) with other experiences, including other individuals.

2. Communion Through Community

I’ve said this before, but it is philosophically impossible to have a solitary individual. An individual has no meaning outside of a relationship with another. There has to be at least two; therefore, an individual is always a part of some kind of interaction, a community of sorts, in order to assert agency (resistance) of the self.

We hear lots of talk about how Thelema is a solitary path—and it is truthful that no one can walk it for you or tell you specifically how you should walk such a path—and yet Thelemic doctrine tells us that part of our whole raison d’etre is to have communion (unity) with all possibilities available to us.⁶I will submit that it’s not merely “all possibilities available to us,” but that we are to unite with all possibilities available to us that are in right relation with our True Will. Discernment is a virtue that is left out of many conversations about Thelema. The retreat, the withdrawal, the keeping something back for ourselves, is the mark of the so-called “Black Brother” of the A∴A∴ system, Crowley tells us and inhibits the process toward self-dissolution that so many claim is their goal.

Yet we find that some are drawn to Thelema quite often because they believe it will justify their misanthropy, their withdrawal from society around them, and their need to broadcast their apparent lack of dependence on others.

Though Thelema exalts individual sovereignty, it also affirms the necessity of community in spiritual formation. The interplay of Will among individuals—friction, harmony, challenge, support—is part of the alchemical process of becoming. As stars navigate the same sky, they affect and illuminate one another. Whether in structured ritual space or informal gatherings, the presence of others offers a mirror and a crucible: a place to test, refine, and (if not most of all) celebrate the unfolding of the Will.

But maturity is also about finding one’s space in the world, in finding one’s place in the flow of personal and communal life. Not every person is cut out to be the old man on the mountain, and, frankly, many occultists aren’t looking for that life either. The myth that every individual must follow some adept’s path of the A∴A∴ is just that: a myth. Few are called to restrict themselves to such ideology and even fewer will ever make it past the initial goalposts.

3. Discipline of the Will (Not Drift of Emotion)

Thelema cautions against confusing transient feelings with the deeper stirrings of the Will. Emotional states are not to be repressed, but neither are they to be enthroned. Spiritual formation requires discipline—not imposed externally, but arising from the aspiration to live one’s Will with clarity and integrity.

However—and I think this is a key point—we have to draw the line between our feelings and our affections. When it comes to Thelema, many who are new may be caught up in their feelings. It feels good—like ’new relationship energy.’ This is especially true in fraternal organizations when initiation brings about a surge of feelings.

However, our affections are those things we desire. Much is made about desire in the Book of the Law. It’s that longing for union. It’s the subtle impetus both to our outward direction in life and our inward journey of personal discovery. Over time, the self is reshaped—not by devotion to sentimental rot, but by the rhythm of action aligned with inner truth.

4. The Law as Life

Thelema’s epistemological doctrine is simple in word, profound in practice: “Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.” This Law is not a license for unbridled hedonism but a charge toward self-knowledge, responsibility, and alignment (adjustment) with cosmic order. As I said quoted and commented elsewhere,

“‘Do what thou wilt’ is to bid Stars to shine, Vines to bear grapes, Water to seek its level.” The Law exhibits itself through all natural processes [that “proper or inherent motion”] of manifested life.⁷See True Will: Some Ill-Advised Thoughts on the Matter.

Doctrinal study in Thelema is not mere belief but a mode of action. The Holy Books, Qabalistic systems (yes, even these), and esoteric symbols offer tools to map experience, deconstruct challenges, and deepen understanding. They point toward truths that must be lived to be known. The True Will of each of us must be allowed to find its natural course of manifested life, its proper or inherent motion.

Spiritual formation is guided by this evolving grasp of Thelemic doctrine—not as a rigid creed, but as a mirror reflecting one’s inner alignment, or lack thereof.

The Pilgrimage

These are my initial thoughts, though I find that the moment I write them down, they change again. But spiritual formation is more of a pilgrimage than a destination, much like growing up from childhood into adolescence itself, and then from adolescence into adulthood.

The Pilgrimage is not about transcendence but immanence—becoming fully what you are, here, now, in the moment. It is a process of fierce honesty, sacred discipline, and continual unfolding. It is about taking Thelema seriously, not as merely a magical system, but as a living praxis for everyday life.

Love is the law, love under will.