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    Great Work (In Hermeticism & in Thelema)

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    GnosticLucifer
    The term Great Work (magnum opus) is a term used in certain occult traditions and religions such as Thelema. It is generally defined as those spiritual practices leading to the mystical union of the self and the all. Aleister Crowley described his own personal Great Work in his book Magick Without Tears.

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    Great Work (In Hermeticism & in Thelema)

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    GnosticLucifer
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    The term Great Work (magnum opus) is a term used in certain occult traditions and religions such as Thelema. It is generally defined as those spiritual practices leading to the mystical union of the self and the all. Aleister Crowley described his own personal Great Work in his book Magick Without Tears.

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    Great Work (in Hermeticism & in Thelema)

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    The term Great Work (magnum opus) is a term used in certain occult traditions and religions such as Thelema. It is generally defined as those spiritual practices leading to the mystical union of the self and the all. Aleister Crowley described his own personal Great Work in his book Magick Without Tears.

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    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    451 views5 pages

    Great Work (In Hermeticism & in Thelema)

    Uploaded by

    GnosticLucifer
    The term Great Work (magnum opus) is a term used in certain occult traditions and religions such as Thelema. It is generally defined as those spiritual practices leading to the mystical union of the self and the all. Aleister Crowley described his own personal Great Work in his book Magick Without Tears.

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    The Great Work refers to spiritual practices and pursuits aimed at self-improvement, enlightenment, and union with the divine. It is a concept in Hermeticism, occultism, and Thelema.

    In Hermeticism, the Great Work is the complete conquest of one's faculties and future, and the perfect emancipation of one's will.

    Aleister Crowley defined the Great Work as the uniting of opposites through various means, such as uniting the soul with God or the microcosm with the macrocosm. For him personally, it was the work of becoming a spiritual being free from material constraints.

    Great Work

    From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

    The term Great Work (magnum opus) is a term used in Hermeticism and in certain occult traditions and religions such as Thelema.[1]

    In Hermeticism
    Main article: Hermeticism Eliphas Levi (18101875), one of the first modern ceremonial magicians and inspiration for the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, discussed the Great Work at length, expanding it from the purely alchemical towards the more spiritual: Furthermore, there exists in nature a force which is immeasurably more powerful than steam, and by means of which a single man, who knows how to adapt and direct it, might upset and alter the face of the world. This force was known to the ancients; it consists in a universal agent having equilibrium for its supreme law, while its direction is concerned immediately with the great arcanum of transcendental magicThis agentis precisely that which the adepts of the middle ages denominated the first matter of the Great Work. The Gnostics represented it as the fiery body of the Holy Spirit; it was the object of adoration in the secret rites of the Sabbath and the Temple, under the hieroglyphic figure of Baphomet or the Androgyne of Mendes. He further defined it as such: The Great Work is, before all things, the creation of man by himself, that is to say, the full and entire conquest of his faculties and his future; it is especially the perfect emancipation of his will.[2]

    In Thelema
    Main article: Thelemic mysticism Within Thelema, the Great Work is generally defined as those spiritual practices leading to the mystical union of the Self and the All. Its founder, author and occultist Aleister Crowley, said of it in his book Magick Without Tears: The Great Work is the uniting of opposites. It may mean the uniting of the soul with God, of the microcosm with the macrocosm, of the female with the male, of the ego with the non-ego."[3] For each individual this Great Work may take different forms. Crowley described his own personal Great Work in the introduction to Magick (Book 4):

    In my third year at Cambridge, I devoted myself consciously to the Great Work, understanding thereby the Work of becoming a Spiritual Being, free from the constraints, accidents, and deceptions of material existence.[4] Within the system of the AA magical Order the Great Work of the Probationer Grade is considered to be the pursuit of self-knowledge to, as Crowley said in The Confessions of Aleister Crowley, "obtain the knowledge of the nature and powers of my own being."[5] However, Crowley continues, the Great Work should also be something that is integrated into the daily life of all: I insist that in private life men should not admit their passions to be an end, indulging them and so degrading themselves to the level of the other animals, or suppressing them and creating neuroses. I insist that every thought, word and deed should be consciously devoted to the service of the Great Work. 'Whatsoever ye do, whether ye eat or drink, do all to the glory of God'.[5] Although Crowley often discussed the idea of "succeeding" or "accomplishing" in the Great Work, he also recognized that the process is ongoing. From his Little Essays Toward Truth: The Quest of the Holy Grail, the Search for the Stone of the Philosophersby whatever name we choose to call the Great Workis therefore endless. Success only opens up new avenues of brilliant possibility. Yea, verily, and Amen! the task is tireless and its joys without bounds; for the whole Universe, and all that in it is, what is it but the infinite playground of the Crowned and Conquering Child, of the insatiable, the innocent, the ever-rejoicing Heir of Space and Eternity, whose name is MAN?[6] The term also appears in the Benediction at the end of Crowley's Gnostic Mass, where the Priest blesses the congregation with the words: The LORD bring you to the accomplishment of your true Wills, the Great Work, the Summum Bonum, True Wisdom and Perfect Happiness.[4]

    Notes
    1. ^ Redgrove, Herbert Stanley, Alchemy: Ancient and Modern, Section 43: Bernard Trvisan, Copyright 1999, by the Rector and Visitors of the University of Virginia 2. ^ Lvi, liphas (1968). Transcendental Magic: its Doctrine and Ritual. Arthur Edward Waite (trans.) ([Rev. ed.] ed.). London: Rider. 3. ^ Crowley, Aleister. Magick Without Tears, "Letter C." New Falcon Publications, 1991. ISBN 1-56184-018-1 4. ^ a b Crowley, Aleister; Mary. Desti, Leila. Waddell (2004). Magick:Liber ABA, Book 4, Parts I-IV. Hymenaeus. Beta (ed.). York Beach, Maine: Samuel Weiser. ISBN 0-87728919-0 9780877289197. 5. ^ a b Crowley, Aleister. The Confessions of Aleister Crowley, Penguin, 1989. ISBN 9780-14-019189-9 6. ^ Crowley, Aleister. Little Essays Toward Truth. "Man." New Falcon Publications, 1991. ISBN 1-56184-000-9

    v t e

    Thelema

    Important elements

    The Book of the Law (Liber AL vel Legis) Aleister Crowley Thelemic mysticism True Will The Great Work Holy Guardian Angel Abrahadabra Stele of Revealing 93 Aeon of Horus Abyss Magick The Gnostic Mass Holy Books of Thelema Saints of Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica Nuit Hadit Ra-Hoor-Khuit Aiwass Babalon Baphomet Chaos Ma'at Choronzon Ankh-af-na-khonsu AA Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica Ordo Templi Orientis Typhonian Order The Open Source Order of the Golden Dawn Kenneth Anger Allan Bennett Emile Brugsch Mary Butts Marjorie Cameron Aleister Crowley Lon Milo DuQuette

    Thelema and religion

    Godforms

    Organizations

    Personalities

    J.F.C. Fuller Karl Germer Kenneth Grant Allen Greenfield Lady Frieda Harris Leah Hirsig Christopher Hyatt Hymenaeus Beta Charles Stansfeld Jones George Cecil Jones Carl Kellner Rose Edith Kelly Grady McMurtry Marcelo Ramos Motta Victor Benjamin Neuburg Jack Parsons Israel Regardie Theodor Reuss Leila Waddell (Laylah) James Wasserman Jane Wolfe Works of Aleister Crowley Libri of Aleister Crowley The Book of the Law (Liber AL vel Legis) The Equinox Liber 777 Magick (Book 4) Confessions The Book of Lies Liber OZ (Liber 77) The Equinox of the Gods The Law is for All Konx om Pax The Book of Thoth The Vision and the Voice Little Essays Toward Truth Eight Lectures on Yoga Magick Without Tears The Blue Equinox Liber Aleph Moonchild Diary of a Drug Fiend White Stains Clouds without Water Collected Works of Aleister Crowley 1905-1907 The Stratagem and other Stories Magick

    Thelemite texts

    Magick and ritual

    Oil of Abramelin Cake of Light Bornless Ritual Eroto-comatose lucidity Gematria Thoth tarot deck Mass of the Phoenix Hermetic Qabalah Sex magic Astrology Yoga Obeah and Wanga Babalon Working Ceremonial magic Unicursal hexagram Body of Light Night of Pan City of the Pyramids Boleskine House Abbey of Thelema Rites of Eleusis Magical formula Thelema Thelemites Thelemite texts

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