Great Work (Thelema)

Within Thelema, the Great Work is the spiritual endeavor aimed at realizing one's True Will and achieving a profound mystical union with Nuit, the Thelemic personification of the infinite and boundless expanse of the universe.

The techniques to achieve these goals are collectively termed "Magick", encompassing Western ceremonial magic, meditation, Hermetic Qabalah, tarot, and yoga.

In the framework of Thelema's magical Order A∴A∴, the Great Work of the Probationer Grade involves self-knowledge, understanding the nature and powers of one's own being.

Achieving the Great Work necessitates extensive preparation, including comprehensive knowledge of the Hermetic Qabalah, disciplined meditation, and invoking spiritual entities.

The pinnacle of this path lies in the discovery and manifestation of one's True Will, as expressed in the Benediction of Crowley's Gnostic Mass.

[2]The techniques for accomplishing these goals Crowley called Magick, a word he used to describe Western ceremonial magic (especially invocations and eucharistic ceremonies) supported by Buddhist meditation, Hermetic Qabalah, English Qaballa,[a] tarot, and yoga,[1] all set in the context of the worship of Nuit, the goddess of "Infinite Stars and Infinite Space".

[6] Since this process is so arduous, it is also acceptable to use magick to develop the self (i.e. one's body of light) or to create ideal circumstances for the Work (e.g. having access to a place in which to do ritual undisturbed).

The aspirant begins in Malkuth, which is the everyday material world of phenomena, with the ultimate goal being at Kether, the sphere of Unity with Nuit.

[11] Crowley referred to the 'augoeides', a Greek term for the body of light, and connected it with 'the Knowledge & Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel' associated with each human being.

According to Crowley, the role of the body of light is broader than simply being a vehicle for astral travel — he writes that it is also the storehouse of all experience.

The general object is the "control of the Astral Plane, the ability to find one's way about it, to penetrate such sanctuaries as are guarded from the profane, [and] to make such relations with its inhabitants as may avail to acquire knowledge and power, or to command service".

[j] Numerological methods such as gematria, isopsephy, and English Qaballa are key to understanding Thelemic texts and scriptures, many of which, including The Book of the Law, are written in abstract, poetic, and often cryptic language.

Benefits of this process vary, but usually include future analysis and further education by the individual and/or associates with whom the magician feels comfortable in revealing such intrinsically private information.

He also wrote that two major milestones are fundamental to Thelemic mysticism, which he called the knowledge of and conversation with one's Holy Guardian Angel and the crossing of the Abyss.

In the system of the A∴A∴ magical order, the single most important goal is to consciously connect with one's HGA, a process termed “Knowledge and Conversation.” By doing so, a magician becomes fully aware of their own True Will.

Whichever position is taken, the object remains the same—to gain an intimate spiritual connection so that one's True Will can become fully known and manifested.

[21] In his notes to this ritual, Crowley sums up the key to success: “INVOKE OFTEN.” Another detailed description of the general operation is given in The Vision and the Voice, Aethyr 8.

[22] After one attains the Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel, a practitioner may choose to then reach the next major milestone: the crossing of the Abyss, the great gulf or void between the phenomenal world of manifestation and its noumenal source, that great spiritual wilderness which must be crossed by the practitioner to attain mastery.

The Greek word Pan also translates as All, and so he is “a symbol of the Universal, a personification of Nature; both Pangenetor, "all-begetter," and Panphage, "all-devourer".

[24][better source needed] Pan is both the giver and the taker of life, and his Night is that time of symbolic death where the practitioner experiences unification with Nuit through the ecstatic destruction of the ego-self.