The Spirit and the Letter
written by David Bersson
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law
The spirit alone in a society is a mighty force to deal with. Yet without the letter the spirit becomes corrupted. And if the letter is corrupted, mistranslated or misrepresented, like the Bible, Tao, Koran and other savage documents the original intention of its word will have a magical current completely altered from the original intention of the Magus who originally perpetuated it as a magical gesture. Noted that the Book of the Law especially commands us not to change the style of its letter.
Back to the spirit then--it is essential for the spirit to be strong. To put it bluntly, no invading army can conquor a country where the majority of its citizens accepts the Law of Θελημα, and holds the spirit and the letter of the Book of the Law holy.
A country which accepts the barbaric insanity of the Jesus cult can be conquored in a matter of days, at least by men like us, who accept the Law of Θελημα. A country which accepts the Mohammed con game can be conquored in a manner of weeks, at least by men like us, who accept the Law of Θελημα.A country which accepts the insane slavery of the Mongol creed, like Buddhism or the Tao can be conquored in a manner of years. Yet it could be done sooner if it not were for the strength they draw from the ancient magick of Genghis Khan. Had they remained loyal to their greatest conquorer and not accepted the wretched manifestations of the demonic cult of Buddhism they may of been real men today, rather than little slave boys living on a revolting diet of rice and promoting the revolting weakness of passive indifference. The mongols should take my advice and be men again embracing the brave strength & spirit of Khan's soul, riding into battle again with the old glint of pride and glory, thereby returning to the letter of their gallant doctrine. Its no longer a question whether the option of genocide should be taken, the question is which method is the most efficient--of ripping the flesh off such crapulous creeds.
Yes, the spirit and the letter. Both concepts are a family of perfection tuned to the music of a perfect philosophy. It was the spirit of Nazi Germany's pride to adhere to the letter of Nordic pride. It is the spirit of the United States of America to cling strongly to the letter of its Declaration of Independence. It was the spirit of the Royal Family of England to preach the letter of its dignity to the mystical souls of its subjects. It is the spirit of the Thelemite, of any country, to follow the Path of his or her True Will and passionately follow out its letter by embracing every new experience with courage and honour. In every case, where the spirit and the letter has a sufficient balance in a country, that territory gains momentum.
In politics, we call patriotism the spirit and the doctrines the letter. In religion we call the spirit the manifested magical current and the Holy Law the letter. In business, we call honesty the spirit and financial gain the letter. Evil cults like the Roman Catholic Church have lost the spirit centuries ago and struggle with the letter, justifying their meager existences by psychotic rationalizations like prayer, faith and other useless struggles of a dying and outdated religious belief.
Now consider of this. If a Thelemite does not properly balance the spirit with the letter, and he veils his vices in virtuous words what is to become of him or her? Am I to be called an instigator in my own community if I proclaim openly that they are professional soldiers that dare not fight? Doesn't the Book of the Law tell us to know & destroy the traitors, refusing none? Of course it does! I can therefore defend openly to have not been a hypocrite to my magical current by proclaiming these would be Thelemites liars and fools. What am I to think of outcasts that attempt to turn me in to old aeon institutions? How does one Thelemite do battle with another outcast Thelemite whose ego is saturated with confusion and radiating the pain of his or her failure? These are real problems where we must face, deal with and gain a real spiritual understanding of the true balance of spirit and letter.
It is my honest opinion that an immediate bloody sacrifice to Ra-Hoor-Khuit is the most logical procedure to be initiated. This is what I really meant by these traitors being years behind with an execution. I did not mean it as a death threat at all, yet I was calling the attention to serious philosophers of our Holy Doctrine of not repeating this "break of the circle" of not binding ones words by deeds and upsetting the spirit of the letter. How fate does occasionally work its little miracles! After all, we are still very early in the New Aeon of Horus and we are still not as sure footed on the mountain climb toward theory and practice that we will be several centuries from now. Resistance is futile; we will catch up with you sooner or later, and redress this balance to the satisfaction of our new understanding of proper procedure. A day? A month? A century? It is no odds, our love for the Book of the Law and its spirit and letter is the key to the Gods whispering the right moment for the tribulation of ordeal that leads to true reverence and bliss.
We learn from the errors of the past. It is also my honest opinion that my fellow Thelemites will rush to my side and give me the gift of a nice sharp sword for my tasty meditation of this, shall we say, touchy subject. Well the spirit of their gift will be dealt with a letter of approval that a few Thelemites have a more pragmatic point of view than some watered down theory, which will result in some passive perception of the universe. Is death smiling at you? Well, smile back and proceed to learn from the experiences of the lessons of the spirit and the letter.
For the subject of spirit and the letter is a subject of serious balance in ones doctrine. It is important, right from the start, to have a definite course of workings for ones theory and practice.
Love is the law, love under will