Quote from: Kylie18 on April 25, 2014, 12:27:42 AM
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Aleister Crowley was very specific in what he had to say about gender. Basically he said that men have less magickal ability than women but more control and that women had more magickal ability than men but less control. So one needed the other, in other words binary.
He was bisexual and the only real "rule" of Thelema was "Do what thou Will shall be whole of the Law, Love is the Law, Love under Will" and I would say it is my Will to be a woman not a man. But where would transwomen come into play in his teaching on gender? He was openly bisexual so Thelema and LGBT issues don't have any conflict with Thelema.
Ave!
My only experience with this order was a single gentleman who claimed to have ties with the Thelema. I worked in an interfaith circle for some time and had the chance to interact with people of all works of life, which included the "average" Christian to the more obscure Zoroastrian remnant. I at the time was a symbolic/non-theistic Luciferian Gnostic...wrap your brain around that one a bit, eh?...using the archetypes as symbols for personality/subconscious aspects, and as sort of "guiding principles" that all man can tap in to for inspiration. I still hold to these principles...me being transgender and androgynous is my way of reconciling the anima and the animus, as a "whole being" embraces both but bows to neither. However, I dropped the "Luciferian Gnostic" bit because I found it too confining.
Anyways, back to the gentleman who claimed to be part of "Crowley's Clan."
He was fine with me...we knew each other for about a year and our "occult" philosophies had overlap...until he learned I was bisexual. At the time I was not open about being trans, but he flipped his lid, ran, and blocked me from all his pages and emails. I didn't care to pursue him, but he let me know he did. So I took his word for it.
So, my only impression of a Thelemite is that of a sexually insecure little boy, even though he was 6'4 230 LBS of thick manly-muscle and me only 6'0 and (at the time) 160 of girly-boyness...and he probably could have torn me to shreds if I made an unwanted pass at him.
The thing is, Crowley was vague and somewhat ambiguous in his work. Reading the Book of Law, I can tell you that a lot of its meaning is only given to initiates, with "code words" in there meant to be understood only by those in the order. It doesn't make them wiser, it just means they have their own language. To each their own, I say: harm me not, problem with you I do not have.
The way I see it, though, is this: it is not a matter of "male" and "female", but rather "masculine" or "feminine." As long as your inner feminine is your main source of strength, it can essentially be stronger than a "biological" woman...ever see a "butch" lesbian who doesn't have an ounce of "girl" in them and is all about keeping their cool? Ever see a "gay" guy who is girly but emotional with next to no restraint? That is what I mean.
Good luck finding a "real" Thelemite order, though, as most of them I have found to be posers. You would have to find someone who goes straight back to the original priesthood for these answers...or bypass the whole thing, use it for guidelines, be your own god/goddess, and lay down your own rules for yourself. That's just my "symbolic Luciferian" talking, though.
