334 lines
16 KiB
Plaintext
334 lines
16 KiB
Plaintext
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DUTY
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by
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ALEISTER CROWLEY
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(a note on the chief rules of practical conduct to be observed
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by those who accept the Law of Thelema.)
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"Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law."
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"There is no law beyond Do what thou wilt."
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"...thou hast no right but to do thy will. Do that
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and no other shall say nay. For pure will, unassuaged
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of purpose, delivered from the lust of result, is
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every way perfect."
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"Love is the law, love under will."
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"Every man and every woman is a star."
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A. YOUR DUTY TO YOURSELF
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1. Find yourself to be the centre of your own Universe
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"I am the flame that burns in every heart of man, and
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in the core of every star."
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2. Explore the Nature and Powers of your own Being.
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This includes everything which is, or can be for you:
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and you must accept everything exactly as it is in
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itself, as one of the factors which go to make up your
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True Self. This True Self thus ultimately includes
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all things soever: its discovery is Initiation (the
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travelling inwards) and as its Nature is to move
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continually, it must be understood not as static, but
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as dynamic, not as a Noun but as a Verb.
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3. Develop in due harmony and proportion every faculty which
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you possess.
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"Wisdom says: be strong!"
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"But exceed! exceed!"
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"Be strong, o man, lust, enjoy all things of sense and
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rapture: fear not that any God shall deny thee for
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this"
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4. Contemplate your own Nature.
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Consider every element thereof both separately and in
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relation to all the rest as to judge accurately the
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true purpose of the totality of your Being.
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5. Find the formula of this purpose, or "True Will", in an
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expression as simple as possible.
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Leave to understand clearly how best to manipulate the
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energies which you control to obtain the results most
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favourable to it from its relations with the part of
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the Universe which you do not yet control.
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6. Extend the dominion of your consciousness, and its control
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of all forces alien to it, to the utmost.
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Do this by the ever stronger and more skilful
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application of your faculties to the finer, clearer,
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fuller, and more accurate perception, the better
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understanding, and the more wisely ordered government,
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of that external Universe.
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7. Never permit the thought or will of any other Being to
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interfere with your own.
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Be constantly vigilant to resent, and on the alert to
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resist, with unvanquishable ardour and vehemence of
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passion unquenchable, every attempt of any other Being
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to influence you otherwise than by contributing new
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facts to your experience of the Universe, or by
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assisting you to reach a higher synthesis of Truth by
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the mode of passionate fusion.
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8. Do not repress or restrict any true instinct of your
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Nature; but devote all in perfection to the sole service of
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your one True Will.
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"Be goodly therefore"
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"The Word of Sin is Restriction. O man! refuse not
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thy wife if she will. O lover, if thou wilt, depart.
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There is no bond that can unite the divided but love:
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all else is a curse. Accursed! Accursed! be it to
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the aeons. Hell. So with thy all: thou hast no right
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but to do thy will. Do that and no other shall say
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nay. For pure will, unassuaged of purpose, delivered
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from the lust of result, is every way perfect."
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"Ye shall gather goods and store of women and Spices;
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ye shall exceed the nations of the earth is Splendour
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& pride; but always in the love of me, and so shall ye
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come to my joy."
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9. Rejoice!
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"Remember all ye that existence is pure joy; that all
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the sorrows are but shadows; they pass & are done; but
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there is that which remains."
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"But ye, o my people, rise up and awake! Let the
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rituals be rightly performed with joy and beauty! ...
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A feast for fire and a feast for water; a feast for
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life and a greater feast for death! A feast every day
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in your hearts in the joy of my rapture. A feast
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every night unto Nuit, and the pleasure of uttermost
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delight. Aye! feast! rejoice! there is no dread
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hereafter. There is no dissolution and eternal
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ecstacy in the kisses of Nu."
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"Now rejoice! now come in our splendour and rapture!
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Come in our passionate peace, & write sweet words for
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the Kings!"
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"Thrill with the joy of life & death! Ah! thy death
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shall be lovely: whose seeth it shall be glad. Thy
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death shall be the seal of the promise of our agelong
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love. Come! lift up thy heart & rejoice!"
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"Is God to live in a dog? No! but the highest are of
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us. They shall rejoice: who sorroweth is not of use.
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Beauty and strength, leaping laughter and delicious
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langour, force and fire, are of us."
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B. YOUR DUTY TO OTHER INDIVIDUAL MEN AND WOMEN
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1. "Love is the law, love under will."
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Unite yourself passionately with every other form of
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consciousness, thus destroying the sense of
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seperateness from the Whole, and creating a new
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base-line in the Universe from which to measure it.
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2. "As brothers fight ye."
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"If he be a king thou canst not hurt him."
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To bring out saliently the differences between two
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points-of-view is useful to both in measuring the
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position of each in the whole. Combat stimulates the
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virile or creative energy; and, like love, of which it
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is one form, excites the mind to an orgasm which
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enables it to transcend its rational dullness.
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3. Abstain from all interferences with other wills.
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"Beware lest any force another, King against King!"
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(The love and war in the previous injunctions are of
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the nature of sport, where one respects, and learns
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from the opponent, but never interferes with him,
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outside the actual game.) To seek to dominate or
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influence another is to seek to deform or destroy him;
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and he is a necessary part of one's own Universe, that
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is, of one's self.
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4. Seek, if you so will, to enlighten another when need
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arises.
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This may be done, always with the strict respect for
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the attitude of the good sportsman, when he is in
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distress through failure to understand himself
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clearly, especially when he specifically demands help;
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for his darkness may hinder one's perception of his
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perfection. (Yet also his darkness may serve as a
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warning, or excite one's interest.) It is also lawful
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when his ignorance has lead him to interfere with
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one's will. All interference is in any case
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dangerous, and demands the exercise of extreme skill
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and good judgement, fortified by experience. To
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influence another is to leave one's citadel unguarded;
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and the attempt commonly ends in losing one's own
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self-supremacy.
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5. Worship all!
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"Every man and every woman is a star."
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"Mercy let be off: damn those who pity."
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"We have nothing with the outcast and the unfit: let
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them die in their misery: For they feel not.
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Compassion is the vice of kings: stamp down the
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wretched and the weak: this is the law of the strong:
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this is our law and the joy of the world. Think not,
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o king, upon that lie: That Thou Must Die: verily thou
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shalt not die, but live! Now let it be understood if
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the body of the King dissolve, he shall remain in pure
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ecstacy for ever. Nuit Hadit Ra-Hoor-Khuit. The Sun,
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Strength and Sight, Light these are for the servants
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of the Star & the Snake."
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Each being is, exactly as you are, the sole centre of
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a Universe in no wise identical with, or even
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assimilable to, your own. The impersonal Universe of
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"Nature" is only an abstraction, approximately tru ,
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of the factors which it is convenient to regard as
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common to all. The Universe of another is therefore
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necessarily unknown to, and unknowable by, you; but it
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induces currents of energy in yours by determining in
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part your reactions. Use men and women, therefore,
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with the absolute respect due to inviolable standards
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of measurement; verify your own observations by
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comparison with similar judgements made by them; and,
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studying the methods which determine their failure or
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success, acquire for yourself the wit and skill
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required to cope with your own problems.
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C. YOUR DUTY TO MANKIND
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1. Establish the Law of Thelema as the sole basis of conduct.
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The general welfare of the race being necessary in
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many respects to your own, that well-being, like your
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own, principally a function of the intellegent and
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wise observance of the Law of Thelema, it is of the
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very first importance to you that every individual
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should accept frankly that Law, and strictly govern
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himself in full accordance therewith.
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You may regard the establishment of the Law of Thelema
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as an essential element of your True Will, since,
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whatever the ultimate nature of that Will, the evident
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condition of putting it into execution is freedom from
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external interference.
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Governments often exhibit the most deplorable
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stupidity, however enlightened may be the men who
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compose and constitute them, or the people whose
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destinies they direct. It is therefore incumbent on
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every man and woman to take the proper steps to cause
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the revisions of all existing statutes on the basis of
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the Law of Thelema. This Law being a Law of Liberty,
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the aim of the legislation must be to secure the
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amplest freedom for each individual in the state,
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eschewing the presumptious assumption that any given
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positive ideal is worthy to be obtained.
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"The Word of Sin is Restriction."
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The essence of crime is that it restricts the freedom
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of the individual outraged. (Thus, murder restricts
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his right to live; robbery, his right to enjoy the
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fruits of his labour; coining, his right to the
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guarantee of the State that he shall barter in
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security; etc.) It is then the common duty to prevent
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crime by segregating the criminal, and by the threat
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of reprisals; also, to teach the criminal that his
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acts, being analyzed, are contrary to his own True
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Will. (This may often be accomplished by taking from
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him the right which he has denied to others; as by
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outlawing the thief, so that he feels constant anxiety
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for the safety of his own possessions, removed from
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the ward of the State.) The rule is quite simple. He
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who violated any right declares magically that it does
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not exist; therefore it no longer does so, for him.
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Crime being a direct spiritual violation of the Law of
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Thelema, it should not be tolerated in the community.
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Those who possess the instinct should be segregated in
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a settlement to build up a state of their own, so to
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learn the necessity of themselves imposing and
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maintaining rules of justice.
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All artificial crimes should be abolished. When
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fantastic restrictions disappear, the greater freedom
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of the individual will itself teach him to avoid acts
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which really restrict natural rights. Thus real crime
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will diminish dramatically.
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The administration of the Law should be simplified by
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training men of uprightness and discretion whose will
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is to fulfill this function in the community to decide
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all complaints by the abstract principle of the Law of
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Thelema, and to award judgement on the basis of the
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actual restriction caused by the offense.
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The ultimate aim is thus to reintegrate conscience, on
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true scientific principles, as the warden of conduct,
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the monitor of the people, and the guarantee of the
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governors.
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D. YOUR DUTY TO ALL OTHER BEINGS AND THINGS
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1. Apply the Law of Thelema to all problems of fitness, use,
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and development.
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It is a violation of the Law of Thelema to abuse the
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natural qualities of any animal or object by diverting
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it from its proper function, as determined by
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consideration of its history and structure. Thus, to
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train children to perform mental operations, or to
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practice tasks, for which they are unfitted, is a
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crime against nature. Similarly, to build houses of
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rotten material, to adulterate food, to destroy
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forests, etc., etc., is to offend.
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The Law of Thelema is to be applied unflinchingly to
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decide every question of conduct. The inherent
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fitness of any thing for any proposed use should be
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the sole criterion.
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Apparent, and sometimes even real, conflict between
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interests will frequently arise. Such cases are to be
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decided by the general value of the contending parties
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in the scale of Nature. Thus, a tree has a right to
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its life; but a man being more than a tree, he may cut
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it down for fuel or shelter when need arises. Even
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so, let him remember that the Law never fails to
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avenge infractions: as when wanton deforestation has
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ruined a climate or a soil, or as when the importation
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of rabbits for a cheap supply of food has created a
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plague.
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Observe that the violation of the Law of Thelema
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produces cumulative ills. The drain of the
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agricultural population to big cities, due chiefly to
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persuading them to abandon their natural ideals, has
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not only made the country less tolerable to the
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peasant, but debauched the town. And the error tends
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to increase in geometrical progression, until a remedy
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has become almost inconceivable and the whole
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structure of society is threatened with ruin.
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The wise application based on observation and
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experience of the Law of Thelema is to work in
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conscious harmony with Evolution. Experiments in
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creation, involving variation from existing types, are
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lawful and necessary. Their value is to be judged by
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their fertility as bearing witness to their harmony
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with the course of nature towards perfection.
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---o0o---
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