Thelema

Thelema is the English spelling of the Greek noun θέλημα: "will", from the verb θέλω: to will, wish, purpose. Early Christian writings use the word to refer to the will of God,^[1] the human will,^[2] and even the will of God's opponent, the Devil.^[3]

Thelema is also a way of life first written about by François Rabelais (16th century) in his famous books of fiction, Gargantua and Pantagruel.^[4] The core of this way of life was summed up in the phrase "Do what thou wilt" ("fay çe que vouldras" in the original old French). This idea was later put into practice in the mid 18th century by Sir Francis Dashwood at Medmenham.^[5]

This Thelemic Law of Rabelais was revived by Aleister Crowley^[5] in 1904 when Crowley wrote The Book of the Law. This book contains both the word Thelema in Greek as well as the phrase "Do what thou wilt." From this, Crowley took Thelema as the name of his own religion. Shri Gurudev Mahendranath wrote that Rabelais, Dashwood, and Crowley must share the honor of perpetuating Thelema.^[5]

1. ↑ Rabelais, Francis de Sales and the Abbaye de Thélème by Alexander T. Pocetto, O.S. F.S., Allentown College of St. Francis de Sales, citing other writers. Online version here Archived 2016-03-05 at the Wayback Machine, retrieved from July 20, 2006.
2. ↑ e.g. John 1:12-13
3. ↑ e.g. 2 Timothy 2:26
4. ↑ Chappell, Vere. What is Thelema? Archived 2017-12-24 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved July 7, 2006.
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1 5.2} Mahendranath (1990).