The Thelemic Universe

 

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

 

Aside from the idea of the True Will, Thelema has a rich symbolic understanding of the universe and the individual’s place therein.

 

• Stars: Firstly, “every man and every woman is a star”– AL I:3. This means that each individual is the center of their own universe, and that each Will is unique and sovereign.
• Nuit and Hadit: In Thelema, divinity is not seen as something “above” or “apart” from the self: it resides in the core of every individual as well as everywhere around them. At the core of every star is Hadit, the flame of illumination that is at the center of one’s Being. Every star is in the body of Nuit, the Heaven of infinite space. Hadit is often symbolized as a winged globe at the heart of Nuit, who is symbolized as the night sky arched like a woman encompassing the Earth. Nuit is understood as the speaker of the first chapter of The Book of the Law and Hadit as the speaker of the second chapter.  Nuit and Hadit are incredibly multi-layered ideas and they should be studied in The Book of the Law.
• Horus: Horus is an important symbol in Thelema and appears in many different forms. The most common form is that of “Ra-Hoor-Khuit“, an Egyptian hawk-headed god of war. Thelemites understand that, symbolically, Horus is the “Lord of the Aeon” and is, therefore, the supreme archetype of initiation and attainment of this Aeon. He also is symbolic of one’s True Self, being a symbol of the Sun, or the God within. Often, Ra-Hoor-Khuit is seen as the “active” complement of the more “passive” Hoor-paar-kraat or Harpocrates, the Greco-Egyptian god of silence. Together, they form a two-in-one God of Strength and Silence; the form containing both Ra-Hoor-Khuit and Hoor-Paar-Kraat is sometimes called Heru-Ra-Ha. It is important to understand that these are all various reflections of the Light of the same Sun, different perspectives with which to understand the Mystery that is symbolically shown as Horus in his various forms.

 

Next article: The Holy Guardian Angel

 

Love is the law, love under will.