Electoral College as a model for a Thelemic course of study

by John Griogair Bell

In Aleister Crowley’s technical book Liber CXCIV An Intimation with Reference to the Constitution of the Order, there is a putative description of necessary qualifications for those volunteering to be considered for selection from within Ordo Templi Orientis to the Electoral College, a Thelemic governing body.

“This electoral college consists of Eleven Persons in each country” “Persons who wish to be appointed to this College by the Supreme and Holy King must volunteer for the office. The appointment is for Eleven Years. Volunteers must renounce for that period all further progress in the Order. They must give evidence of first-rate ability in

(i) Some branch of athletics.

(ii) Some branch of learning.

They must also possess a profound general knowledge of history and of the art of government, with some attention to philosophy in general.

They must each live in solitude, without more than the necessary speech even to casual neighbours, serving themselves in all respects, for three months continuously, once at least in every two years. The President will summon them at the four seasons of the year, and if necessary at other times, when they will deliberate upon the affairs placed in their charge.”

This suggests to me a model for a Thelemic course of study, not just for those interested in Electoral College service, but any Thelemite. (Although, on reflection, given the lengthy period undertaken, with the suggestion of taking a magical oath, and no specific syllabus, I might have called this a journey instead.) This is example of what a Thelemic exemplar should embody. Of course, I submit, not even actual members of the Electoral College (neither in the past, present nor future) necessarily do embody these things, per se; so, this is not an end but a process, thus, again, this suggests a course of study to undertake.

Consider the particulars.

“consists of Eleven Persons” — Find the Others. Organize yourself with others into a lodge, coven, or revolutionary cell; or at least into a study buddy group.

“Persons … must volunteer” — Check with your self and Self that this is what is right for you. “So with thy all; thou hast no right but to do thy will.”—Liber Legis, Chapter I Verse 42–44.

“for Eleven Years” — This is a period of time one might commit to undertaking this course of study. Make it a serious magical oath to yourself to commit to a meaningful period of time, and in which you will naturally experience both progress and setbacks but continue in spite of both.

“renounce for that period all further progress” — I would suggest loosely reading into this course of study that one should not be attached to progress, but undertake the study for its own sake. This course of study is not an end or an attainment to achieve, but a process to experience and embody. One might suggest approaching this course of study “unassuaged of purpose”—Liber Legis, Chapter I Verse 42–44.

“give evidence of first-rate ability in (i) Some branch of athletics. (ii) Some branch of learning.” — Here, I think, is the meat of the matter. Also, a place where I will remain vague. You are on your own path. I need neither to know nor to care what that path is for you, but you probably do. What branch of athletics will you take as your focus on your path of practice and improvement? What branch of learning will you take as your focus on your path of practice and improvement? As part of your own experience, perhaps you will find that you need to experiment (à la Cole Porter) with various types of athletics and learning to find the one you will focus on. Perhaps you will realize that the particular branches of athletics and learning are not the point, but that you are pursuing them is; and therefore, perhaps, your focus changes, but all within the scope and period of your magical oath.

“also possess a profound general knowledge of history and of the art of government, with some attention to philosophy in general” — The particular branches of athletics and learning you have chosen as a focus are not in isolation. Stay engaged in the world, as generalized from Thích Nhất Hạnh’s Engaged Buddhism but also “Now think not to find them in the forest or on the mountain; but in beds of purple, caressed by magnificent beasts of women with large limbs, and fire and light in their eyes, and masses of flaming hair about them; there shall ye find them.”—Liber Legis, Chapter II Verse 24. Also be grounded in the real experience of life on this planet. I’m reminded of Heinlein writing the character Lazarus Long saying “specialization is for insects” from Time Enough for Love, and the summary of the competent human as having a broad base of real-world knowledge and ability. Do not neglect, whatever your specific rare esoteric pursuits, also being a functioning competent person in the world.

“live in solitude, without more than the necessary speech even to casual neighbours, serving themselves in all respects, for three months continuously, once at least in every two years.” — Within this course, you should include periods of regular self-reflective practice. Perhaps you can manage a lengthy retreat into full silence and solitude, or some other form that works for you. Perhaps that’s for three months every two years, or some other periodic pattern that works for you, but include this in your course and oath to pursue it.

“at the four seasons of the year, and if necessary at other times, when they will deliberate upon the affairs” — At seasonal milestones, take time to include bringing the work you’ve been doing into the world. What that looks like could vary greatly depending on what branches of athletics and learning you are pursuing, what you’ve discovered during your periodic reflective practice, and so on; but, like the heroic monomyth, come back to the world changed and changing the world should be part of your course of study. Remember that even though this course of study is your particular path, you’ve undertaken it to generally be in service to others.

Become the scholarly and athletic knight-monk of the rosy cross you want to see in the world.

Hermetic Library Zine John Griogair Bell Librarian Electoral College as a Model for a Thelemic Course of Study

John Griogair Bell is the enigmatic super-villain, known only, to some, as Librarian.

Consider also:

  1. Celestis
  2. “But the treasures of art, of literature, of music, must this time be preserved for humanity; and we are determined to resist to the death any attack upon those treasures. We are — for the moment — fighting the Germans; but Faust and Siegfried and Zarathustra, the achievement of Kant in philosophy and of Helmholtz in physics, must be put ‘out of bounds.’ We stand above.”
  3. Vitriol – handmade photography book
  4. “Rather than speak of conspiracy theory we might instead try to construct a poetics of conspiracy. A conspiracy would be treated like an aesthetic construct, or a language-construct, and could be analyzed like a text. Robert Anton Wilson has done this with his vast and playful ‘Illuminati’ fantasy. We can also use conspiracy theory as a weapon of agit-prop.”
  5. Reflection