Shared Obligations

Carae Sorores et Fratres of the Knights Templar, OTO,

Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.

What with all of the events of late, both local and national, I find myself meditating on an Obligation we have all taken on together, regarding the principles of the Book of the Law and Freedom.

What does this mean to you? What are those principles we are to defend (not just uphold)? What is Freedom?

Brother Jack Parsons said in his essay, “Freedom is a Two-Edged Sword”:

“…we can deduce positive principles:





And further:


And further still:

“If we abrogate another's freedom to gain our own ends, our own freedom is thereby jeopardized. That is the cost. If we wish to assure our own freedom, we must assure all men’s freedom. That is the technique.” Crowley said in his, here excerpted, essay, “Duty”:


1. Never permit the thought or will of any other Being to interfere with your own. Be constantly vigilant to resent, and on the alert to resist, with unvanquishable ardour and vehemence of passion unquenchable, every attempt of any other Being to influence you otherwise than by contributing new facts to your experience of the Universe, or by assisting you to reach a higher synthesis of Truth by the mode of passionate fusion. 2. Do not repress or restrict any true instinct of your Nature; but devote all in perfection to the sole service of your one True Will. “Be goodly therefore”
“The Word of Sin is Restriction. O man! refuse not thy wife if she will. O lover, if thou wilt, depart. There is no bond that can unite the divided but love: all else is a curse. Accursed! Accursed! be it to the æons. Hell. So with thy all: thou hast no right but to do thy will. Do that and no other shall say nay. For pure will, unassuaged of purpose, delivered from the lust of result, is every way perfect.”
“Ye shall gather goods and store of women and Spices; ye shall exceed the nations of the earth is Splendour ” pride; but always in the love of me, and so shall ye come to my joy.“


1. Abstain from all interferences with other wills. “Beware lest any force another, King against King!”
(The love and war in the previous injunctions are of the nature of sport, where one respects, and learns from the opponent, but never interferes with him, outside the actual game.) To seek to dominate or influence another is to seek to deform or destroy him; and he is a necessary part of one's own Universe, that is, of one's self.<HTML></li>


Governments often exhibit the most deplorable stupidity, however enlightened may be the men who compose and constitute them, or the people whose destinies they direct. It is therefore incumbent on every man and woman to take the proper steps to cause the revisions of all existing statutes on the basis of the Law of Thelema. This Law being a Law of Liberty, the aim of the legislation must be to secure the amplest freedom for each individual in the state, eschewing the presumptious assumption that any given positive ideal is worthy to be obtained.
“The Word of Sin is Restriction.”

How do you live this ideal everyday? How do you model this behavior for others?

When and where have you failed in this? What baggage or unrealized beliefs do you have that caused this? What steps can you take to correct this lapse in judgment?

I have a running joke at work: a coworker will mention a non-violent crime they heard about in the news, perhaps one I have strong person feelings about, such as the last time, and I come out for stiff penalties and then 'realize' it is not in line with my beliefs and change my mind and say the same thing each time. Let me give you the last example:

MM told us about a guy who was repeatedly arrested in the New Bedford area for stealing DVDs. He hit the third time rule and now has life in jail for stealing massive amounts of DVDs.

Anyone who has been to my house knows that I love movies and I own quite a few DVDs. So, I 'came out' for his life sentence, saying something like, “Good, dirty thief deserves life in prison.” Then, “Oh wait, I am against jail time for non-violent crimes, never mind, they should release him and make him do thousands of hours of community service instead.” And we all laugh.

Are your statements and behavior consistent with your professed beliefs? Do you genuinely defend the principles of the Book of the Law in the name of the Freedom of Man? Crowley attempted to summarize these principles so simply that all men could understand them in “Liber LXVII: Oz”, which says:





to work as he will:
to play as he will:
to rest as he will:
to die when and how he will. * 2. Man has the right to eat what he will: to drink what he will:
to dwell where he will:
to move as he will on the face of the earth. * 3. Man has the right to think what he will: to speak what he will:
to write what he will:
to dress as he will. * 4. Man has the right to love as he will:— “take your fill and will of love as ye will,
when, where, and with whom ye will.”
—AL. I. 51 * 5. Man has the right to kill those who would thwart these rights. “the slaves shall serve.” —AL. II. 58


Have you defended all of these rights for all men? Do you make moral judgments about people that are not in line with this text? Do you say nay?

Take a few minutes and think about it. Go out and live by your convictions and hopefully mankind will be uplifted by your good example.

Love is the law, love under will.

Fraternally yours,