Questions List

The following is a complete list of all the “prepared answer” questions asked as part of Thelemic Symposium.

• What three recommendations would you make to a person seeking to become more proficient in accomplishing their True Will?
• How have you approached and integrated the warlike aspects of Ra Hoor Khuit as expressed in the third chapter of The Book of the Law?
• How do you understand and reconcile the following Thelemic doctrines: “Every man and every woman is a star,” “woman has no soul,” and “The male must have completed himself and become androgyne; the female, and become gynander … incompleteness imprisons the soul”?
• Aleister Crowley wrote, “All Art is Magick.” In what ways does this principle find expression in the art of your vocations?
• In his note on the chief rules of practical conduct to be observed by those who accept the Law of Thelema, Aleister Crowley explains that combat is useful to bring out the differences between two points-of-view by stimulating the creative energy, exciting the mind to orgasm, thus enabling the transcendence of rational dullness. As one who has accepted the Law, what ways have you found to incorporate this duty of engaging in creative combat?
• Given our fundamental freedoms and our responsibility to resist oppression, how have you directed your efforts in the ongoing fight for liberty, and are there any particular issues you find important today?
• Crowley described Thelema as a solar-phallic religion. To some, this sounds like another way of saying “patriarchy.” In what ways do you find solar-phallicism to be inclusive of women?
• In his New Comment Crowley writes, “Every fight is to be a fight to the finish; each one of us for himself, to do his own will; and all of us for all, to establish the Law of Liberty.” In his recruitment drive for O.T.O., he recommends that we contact the Order to organize the fight for Liberty. In Liber Aleph, he notes that we “must by Law assure to every Man a Means of … protecting him from any that may seek to deprive him of these vertebral Rights.” How do you see the Order serving the cause of Thelema in this vein?
• Our community has a long and honored tradition of being skeptical towards fundamentalism, and we have long heard about the problems of fundamentalism in Thelema. Can you see any aspects of it that might be beneficial to our work? What is your overall perspective on “Thelemic fundamentalism?”
• The debate between science and religion rages on in books, magazines, and television. How does Thelema address this age-old battle of ideas?
• What role will the children of today’s Thelemites play in the future of our movement?
• If you could go back in time to the weeks following your first conscious identification as a Thelemite, what advice or counsel would you offer yourself?
• What is the role, if any, of “lineage” in Thelema?
• What is the most helpful advice you have ever received from anyone in your work, and how did it help you?
• At this stage in the history of Thelema, what is the best way we can contribute to the development of Thelemic culture?
• What do you think initiation is?
• What major differences have you found, comparing your present perspective on Thelema to when you first approached the Work?
• How do you personally distinguish between syncretism and the “smorgasbord approach” in Thelema?
• From your perspective, what does Thelema suggest about human relationships and sexuality?
• How do you see True Will and the Great Work, in concrete terms, for the average Thelemite approaching the work?
• There are many interpretations of the “Tunis Comment,” and what its admonitions mean for Thelemites. What is your perspective on this?
• What practices do you employ to keep your focus on Thelemic principles in a culture so immersed in codependency and consumerism?
• Thelema has experienced one hundred years of growth. How would you express your vision of the Law of Thelema integrating with individuals, groups and society over the next two hundred years?
• How does the Tunis Comment support or hinder development toward the ideal expressed in the motto of the A∴A∴ – “The Method of Science, The Aim of Religion”?
• How do you define fraternity, and how do you incorporate it in your life?
• What makes a person a Thelemite? For example, is a Thelemite someone who: accepts Liber AL, identifies as a Thelemite, or acts in accordance with their will?
• What do you think our biggest obstacle is, collectively, in the pursuit of promulgating the Law of Thelema?
• What do you see as the difference, if any, between “pure will,” as discussed in Liber AL, and “True Will,” as described by Crowley?
• How do you think that Thelema should develop in order to take its rightful place among other religions? What role do you think O.T.O. has to play in this?
• Is the political structure of O.T.O. tenable as a model of large-scale government in today’s world? Why or why not?
• During the time in which you have been in the O.T.O., what are the major changes that you have seen?
• What role do you think the individual initiate has to play in determining the character of O.T.O.? You can use examples, good and bad, from your own experience.