The Great Work
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
| Thelema |
|
The Book of the Law |
| Thelema Portal |
The Great Work (lat: Magnum Opus), within Thelema, is the process of attaining Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel and learning and accomplishing one's True Will. The term originates as far back as Medieval alchemy, and came to Thelema through Hermetic Magic informed by the Qabalah.
- See also: Thelemic mysticism
Contents |
[edit] In the Qabalah
The term "great work" does not exist in classic Qabalistic texts such as the Zohar or Sepher Yetzirah. However, the concept appears in the writings of Qabalists throughout the Renaissance:
- Do not pray for your own needs, for your prayer will not then be accepted. But when you want to pray, do so for the heaviness of the Head. For whatever you lack, the Divine Presence also lacks.
- This is because man is a "portion of God from on high." Whatever any part lacks, also exists in the Whole, and the Whole feels the lack of the part, You should therefore pray for the needs of the Whole. (from a disciple of the Kabbalist R. Israel Baal Shem Tov)
The classic Jewish Kabbalist is less concerned about the Great Work as a manifestation of "True Will" than he or she is as a part of bringing the world back to the state which the Creator intended. Thus one finds current Jewish Kabbalistic movements attempting to bring each new Kabbalist into their concept of the Great Work. As more individuals come into the Kabbalistic system, the closer the world comes to perfection as was originally conceived in the Kabbalistic scheme.[citation needed]
[edit] Eliphas Levi and the Golden Dawn
Eliphas Levi, the first of the modern "ceremonial magicians" and predecessor to the "Golden Dawn" defined the Great Work thus:
- The magnum opus is pre-eminently the creation of man by himself, that is, the full and complete conquest which he can make of his faculties and his future; it is pre-eminently the perfect emancipation of his will.
The modern incarnation of the Golden Dawn defines the Great Work as "a term borrowed from alchemy's magnum opus. Refers to the path of human spiritual evolution, growth and illumination, which is the goal of ceremonial magic."
[edit] The Great Work and Thelema
Like the Golden Dawn, Thelemites view the Great Work, at least with respect to the individual magician, as being the quest for Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel. However, Crowley never lost sight that the individual Great Work contributes ultimately to the Great Work of the Universe:
- The first condition of membership of the A.'.A.'. is that one is sworn to identify one's own Great Work with that of raising mankind to higher levels, spiritually, and in every other way. (Magick Without Tears, ch. 9)
According to Thelemic philosophy, the accomplishment of the Great Work is the discovery of one's "True Self": the practitioner's Secret Self (Hadit) in the universe of infinite possibilities (Nuit).
According to Thelemic doctrine, it may take many incarnations for one to achieve this Supreme Goal. Each Thelemite finds for himself or herself a unique method for accomplishing the Great Work, but always in conformity with Crowley's The Book of the Law, since (again, according to doctrine) that book sets forth the formula of the present aeon, which is the Aeon of Horus. Crowley cautions against the "Lust of result" for such desire reveals limitations (a similar idea is present in Buddhism), which hinder one's development.
Crowley's occult system initially focuses on attaining the Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel, which will (by assumption) help the practitioner to achieve his or her True Will. The system does not give any absolute rule for reaching this point, nor any certain way to test another person's Holy Guardian Angel.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- Thelemapedia. (2004). The Great Work. Retrieved April, 14, 2006.
- Levi, Eliphas. Dogme et rituel de la haute magie, published in English as Transcendental Magic. A.E. Waite, trans.
- Crowley, Aleister. (1997). Magick: Book 4. 2nd ed. York Beach, Me. : S. Weiser.
- ____. (1982). Magick Without Tears. Phoenix, AZ : Falcon Press
- ____. Liber CXCVII. Sir Palamedes the Saracen Knight "A poetic account of the Great Work and enumeration of many obstacles."
