The deceptively brief essay that follows delivers a heavy punch.
In it Tobin Owl simply contrasts two sayings, one by Jesus and one by Aleister Crowley. In doing so, he illuminates the differences between two fundamentally contrasting worldviews. So, why should we care what a relatively obscure magician and founder of an esoteric religion thought or said?
As Tobin elegantly points out, Crowley’s profession of faith could well be the motto of our contemporary world system! As increasingly people realize that our current resistance movements necessarily have a spiritual component—because what we resist has a spiritual component—Tobin names the adversary… ANTICHRIST!
-WD James (ed.)
Jesus said, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your mind and all your soul, and love your neighbor as yourself. For this is the whole of the Law.”
Jesus is also credited as saying, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”
Aleister Crowley, in The Book of the Law (Liber AL vel Legis) which Crowley claimed to have received through automatic writing in 1904, set out the core teaching of his philosophy of Thelema: “Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law.”
Aleister Crowley in ceremonial garb of the Golden Dawn, a Masonic order he was a member of.
Comparing these sayings of the great Mason and magician to those of Jesus quoted before, do we notice any difference? Yea, indeed, they are worlds apart. For the one—those sayings of Jesus—are an injunction to the supreme value of love, one might even say kindness and consideration for others. But the other, that of Crowley, appears at face value to be an injunction to egotism, implicit disregard for any but “number one.”
Though perhaps not a household name, Crowley’s philosophy has had a tremendous influence on popular modern life. Is it surprising then that the motto of modernism blared at the world through advertising and Hollywood messaging is to gratify oneself above all others?
It may be argued that for Thelemist's “Do what thou wilt” is an injunction to find one’s inner self, one’s inner “will”—an injunction to self-integrity. If taken as such, I would find it commendable.
Yet looking on the fruits of that movement, I verily doubt that it has anything to do with self-integrity. How can people who are lost in the materialism and self-gratification of superstars and affluent society—who are the ones who set the example for the entertainment consuming masses—even know what it is to be true to oneself? I’m afraid it’s all a sham.
Crowley’s message is the essence of the spirit of the Antichrist. For it is readily perceived that Jesus both taught and exemplified compassion and empathy, if we indulge in at least in our fantasies about him. Whether these be historically real, or not, is of little consequence. Rather it is the spirit that we perceive in that man called Jesus that calls forth something within us. The recognition of a shared life, of our fellow creaturehood with others both of our kind and not of our kind. Of all our relations. The nobler path.
Jesus calls us to come out of the world, out of the system, to be free children of the Creator who walk in love and goodness and light, whose hearts are awakened. If you can for a moment, forget all the contradictions of the so-called Biblical Jesus. Your inmost heart informs you well. Can you hear it?
Tobin Owl is an independent researcher/writer. Over the past three years he’s conducted in-depth investigation focusing on the history of modern medicine, medical science, geopolitical conspiracy and the environment. Articles written prior to his move to Substack are found on his website Cry For The Earth