Desire/Will

In magical systems, the concept of thelema is most often associated with the desire or will for something to happen. Though it was only popularized in the 20th century by Alastair Crowley, thelema as desire or will has been used since early Christianity to refer to the will of God, humans, or the Devil. Francois Rabelais also used it in his pseudo-philosophical writings, summarizing its meaning as “do what thou wilt.”

This sounds like a very generous philosophy, but in actuality it is not. One’s desire or will is not necessarily what one thinks it is. Crowley incorporated ideas from many different philosophies and magical systems when he was shaping his version of mysticism, and there is more of the Golden Rule in thelema than it appears.

Thelema as Desire/Will

To begin with, Crowley believed that there were two basic forms of desire. One is the wish that you and I think we have: to have lots of women and sex, to be insanely wealthy, to be powerful and famous and all that. But this is only what we are taught to desire, not what we truly desire.

Under that surface wish, each of us has a true desire that is wrapped up in what many religions and philosophies refer to as our purpose for being. Crowley taught that we each need to discover what that particular underlying desire is in order to truly cast magic.

Magic bent to the purpose of fulfilling one’s surface desires is black magic – magic that has been designed to warp or disguise one’s true desires. But magic that is designed to enable one to fulfill the underlying dream is white magic – so that if you wish for wealth as an end, you are performing black magic, but if your wealth is intended only to fund your true purpose, the casting of magic to gain it is white magic. White magic can only be done when the thelema, the will behind the magic, is trying to actualize that correct wish; it warps the magic when it is used to fulfill either someone else’s desires or one’s not-correct desires.

In a lot of ways this does not sound like a system that will get you tons of sexual pleasure. But – it will. One’s deepest wish, the single word or action that encapsulates who you are at the core, is like a harmony. If your life does not mesh with that harmony, it shows on the surface. At best, those who don’t harmonize come across as ordinary; at worst, they are clearly faking or pretending their way through life.

But when you tap your true thelema, you are actualizing who and what and why you are. Those who are “in tune” are the people we are all drawn to. They clearly know what they’re supposed to be doing, and they are doing that.

Discover your thelema before working will-based magic. It will change the way you look at life in general, not just the way you look at magic. Crowley wrote, “Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.” Fulfilling your true will enables you to get the things that you want, on a deep and spiritual level as well as a physical one – and in the end serves others as well as yourself.