Biographical note:

Ipsissimus Don Webb joined the Temple of Set in 1989 and became its High Priest in 1996. He has written and lectured on Left-Hand Path topics and the occult practices of Late Antiquity since 1995. He lives in Austin, Texas.

Excerpt from book:

The Force

Chapter 4
DISCERNMENT AND THELEMA

One of the odd pieces of advice that Mr. Crowley gives us frequently in his writings is that we should learn not to think about the differences between things as part of our development. On the surface this seems absurd--I obviously want to know the difference between drain cleaner and sugar when I make cinnamon toast. However once his instructions are seen as a part of a magical/initiatory system there is some wisdom in his suggestion if we approach this idea with Moderation, which is the watchword of the Left-Hand Path, rather than Submission, which is the watchword of the Right Hand Path. I would want to look at the First Beast’s idea and consider its usefulness in Setian Initiation.

Crowley’s idea comes from four human sources--the Buddha, Lao Tzu, Nietzsche, and the Marquis de Sade--and also from practical magical experience.

From the Buddha, Crowley draws the idea of dissatisfaction as a threat to the Path. Consider the person who can never enjoy his life. He has won second place in a tough contest, but knows only agony that he did not get first place. He sees the table next to his at the restaurant has cherries jubilee, and suddenly he hates his cheesecake. He drops his friend of many years who is a chiropractor to impress his new friend who is a medical doctor. This dissatisfaction does not lead to better states of being but to an anxiety that keeps him from ever awakening. There is no moment that is real to this person because his connection to the outside universe is shattered by his imagination of its flaws. He can never appreciate what he has, which means he is unhappy. More importantly he tells his psyche all the time, “You don’t do very good magic.” Eventually the psyche will give up. Why should it change the possibilities when it will be castigated?

From Lao Tzu, Crowley draws the idea of Process. Magicians send out a mysterious message and receive a mysterious reply form the universe. This means they have to be open to the process unfolding by the art that is theirs to command, rather than being a critic of the process (having as they say “lust for results.”) It makes me think of the Taoist fable of the horse.

Some mysterious beast was destroying a farmer’s crops by night. “Oh no! This is terrible!” his neighbors say. The farmer says, “We shall see.” The farmer’s son catches the animal and finds it to be a beautiful white stallion that he trains. The neighbors say, “You are blest by the gods with good fortune!” The farmer says, “We shall see.” The horse throws the son and breaks his leg. “Oh no! This is terrible!” his neighbors say. The farmer says, “We shall see.” The Emperor’s troops arrive taking all able-bodied men to fight the Mongols, but spare the farmer’s son, because of his broken leg. “You are blest by the gods with good fortune!” his neighbors say. The farmer says, “We shall see.”

The magician learns to accept the bigger picture, that his magic is Working and does not make judgments as the process unfolds. The flu that keeps you home may keep you from the car wreck. The unstable magician tries to change the process at every step and winds up living in a muddy magical soup.

From Nietzsche, Crowley received the idea that the Will provides its own training. We need a certain number of failures to become strong and crafty enough for success. If at every set- back we gave up, we certainly would never have learned to ride a bike. If at everyNew commentaries on Aleister Crowley’s Book of the Law reveal how it is connected to both Right- and Left-Hand Paths

• Examines each line of the Book of the Law in the light of modern psychology, Egyptology, Gurdjieff’s teachings, and contemporary Left-Hand Path thought

• Explores Crowley’s identification with the First Beast of Revelations as well as his adoption of the Loki archetype for becoming a vessel of love for all humanity

• Recasts the Cairo Working as a text of personal sovereignty and a relevant tool for personal transformation

• Includes commentary on the Book of the Law by Dr. Michael A. Aquino, who served as High Priest of the Temple of Set from 1975 to 1996

Received by Aleister Crowley in April 1904 in Cairo, Egypt, the Book of the Law is the most provocative record of magical working in several hundred years, affecting not only organizations directly associated with Crowley such as the Ordo Templi Orientis but also modern Wicca, Chaos Magic, and the Temple of Set.

Boldly defying Crowley’s warning not to comment on the Book of the Law, Ipsissimus Don Webb provides in-depth interpretation from both Black and White Magical perspectives, including commentary from Dr. Michael A. Aquino, who served as High Priest of the Temple of Set from 1975 to 1996. Webb examines each line of the Book in the light of modern psychology, Egyptology, existentialism, and competing occult systems such as the teachings of G. I. Gurdjieff and contemporary Left-Hand Path thought. Discarding the common image of Crowley formulated in a spiritually unsophisticated time when the devotee of the Left-Hand Path was dismissed as a selfish evil doer, Webb unveils a new side of Crowley based on his adoption of the Loki archetype and his aim to become a vessel of love for all humanity. In so doing, he shows how the Book of the Law is connected to both Right- and Left-Hand Paths and reveals how Crowley’s magical path of mastery over the self and Cosmos overthrew the gods of old religion, which had kept humanity asleep to dream the nightmare of history.

Providing in-depth analysis of Crowley’s sources and his self-identification with the First Beast of Revelation from a profound esoteric perspective, Webb takes his views out of the Golden Dawn matrix within which he received the Book of the Law and radically recasts the Cairo Working as a text of personal sovereignty and a relevant tool for personal transformation.