Paganism an overview introduction - South African Pagan Council

Thelema
Thelema is the mystical cosmology Crowley announced in 1904 and expanded upon
for the remainder of his life. The diversity of his writings illustrates his difficulty in
classifying Thelema from any one vantage. It can be considered a form of magickal
philosophy, religious traditionalism, humanistic positivism, and/or an elitist
meritocracy.
The chief precept of Thelema, derived from the works of François Rabelais, is the
sovereignty of Will: “Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law”. Crowley’s
idea of will, however, is not simply the individual's desires or wishes, but also
incorporates a sense of the person's destiny or greater purpose: what he termed “True
Will”.
The second precept of Thelema is “Love is the law, love under will” - and Crowley’s
meaning of “Love” is as complex as that of “Will”. It is frequently sexual:
Crowley’s system, like elements of the Golden Dawn before him, sees the dichotomy
and tension between the male and female as fundamental to existence, and sexual
"magick" and metaphor form a significant part of Thelemic ritual. However, Love is
also discussed as the Union of Opposites, which Crowley thought was the key to
enlightenment.
This “Law of Thelema”, as it is called, is not to be interpreted as a license to indulge
every passing whim, but rather as the mandate to discover one’s True Will or true
purpose in life, and to accomplish it; leaving others to do the same in their own
unique ways.
Alex Sanders (1926 - 1988)
Alex Sanders was the founder of the Alexandrian tradition of Wicca, which has
proved popular particularly in Britain and Canada. He deliberately courted publicity
and controversy, and was proclaimed “King of the Witches” by his followers, which
created dissent with many other Wiccans. However, many, including Stewart Farrar,
claim that Sanders has made major contributions to the modern development of the
Craft.
Several contradictory accounts have been given of Sanders’ initiation into Witchcraft,
and even his own accounts are inconsistent. According to one story, he was initiated
at the age of seven by his Welsh grandmother, Mary Bibby, a hereditary witch,
supposedly descended from the Welsh chieftain Owain Glynd?r. She let him copy her
Book of Shadows when he was nine and taught him the rites and magick of Witches,
along with techniques of scrying in inky water and in crystals. Sanders claimed that
following the Blitz, and a few months before her death at age 74, his grandmother
conferred upon him second- and third-grade initiations, involving ritual sex.
In another version (corroborated by his future wife and High Priestess, Maxine
Sanders), he claimed to have been initiated (and given his craft name, Verbius) as late
as 1961 in a coven led by a woman from Nottingham, although he was indeed also
taught a form of Witchcraft and magic by his grandmother when he was young, with
his mother's knowledge.
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