Knowledge; not just Conversation:

 

Knowledge; not just Conversation:

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

I find it interesting how many Thelemites claim that they have attained Knowledge and Conversation, without having proof of such. Most haven't even delved deep enough into the idea intellectually to give us a coherent definition of what Knowledge and Conversation actually means. This claim was never present in the past, even the Chymical Wedding was written anonymously as well as the Rosicrucian manifestoes, this was to assure that the work remains noble, that the integrity of these magi remained intact. Now the lack of understanding in modern times concerning this attainment has some of the most reprehensible charlatans claiming that they have attained. What is fascinating, is how often when going through some of the online communities, these charlatans use the claim of attainment to sell services to the naïve. For me personally, this is a very bad thing. I have seen people mention Crowley, saying that his work was great, but we need to stop looking at the man, who he was in life, and only focus on his formal writings on Magick. But then the same people, try to dispute the validity of his work by insisting that the philosophy of Thelema is clearly a projection of the times and the man Crowley. This to me shows a complete misunderstanding of what Knowledge and Conversation is, and I may be wrong as well, but I will present in this essay what I believe it to be.

Knowledge and Conversation from my understanding is not merely an attainment, it presents the task, and is rather the vehicle of an adept’s Great Work. It is a projection of the ego that embodies the divine will of an adept. If it was just an attainment, the tasks of the adeptus grades would have nothing to do with the work of Beauty or the thesis of the Exempt Adept, which is an inspired work showing the beauty of the Western Mystery Tradition, not a meme or a bunch of memes on a social media platform. And this work from my understanding, is to be put out to the world at large, obviously, as an adept has no superior, so one may think of the “C” in K&C as a conversation between an adept and the universe. But Knowledge is something too, it is not possible that this Knowledge is referring to Knowledge of self, as self was studied and perfected in the grades leading up to the attainment. Perhaps it actually means knowledge in the strict sense of the word. One criticism of the Book of the Law stated, and this was put out formally by a Thelemic fraternity, that from the book we can clearly see numerous influences that are not of a divine nature, which they presume delegitimizes the book. Well, this again indicates a complete lack of understanding, in this case the misunderstanding relates to what divine means. It is annoying how so many Thelemites can’t escape their Christianized perspective of divinity, that they would rather the gods be literal and able to come down from their cloud and visit us as the angel did Mary. And these people with their insane notions of what divinity is and establishing orders founded on their ill-conceived ideas is utterly corrosive to the integrity of Thelema as a legitimate magickal philosophy.

Of course, Knowledge means exactly that, and the attainment is that of Genius, which also means exactly that. During the first part of one’s magickal career one studies all the systems of Magick and occult philosophy, so that, once K&C is reached, an adept would have something to talk about with his Angel. Crowley had a lot to say, his contemporaries not so much, and although the man was a "super genius" as someone once said to me, isn’t a person selling him or herself short as to not try to live up to his example? I would say his example and Blavatsky’s are perfect examples of what Knowledge and Conversation should look like. One’s work will always be influenced by one’s knowledge, interests and experiences. Although for these to be worthy of the label of Knowledge and Conversation, there is a certain standard that needs to be upheld. Hence, we must make ourselves ready for this supreme attainment and assimilate the Western Mysteries in such a way as to become proponents of tradition, who have the authority to stand alone.

One example of this I think, is J.F.C. Fuller, who was a master of romantic prose and in everything he wrote this mastery and love of poetry shined through. Even in what is not considered an inspired text, although it may well be, the Treasure House of Images is full of quotes from numerous sources that had been assimilated by Fuller’s Soul to inspire his Great Work. Crowley’s work, however, was inspired by a much wider range of interests, and of course it was, when one considers the life and character of the man and viewing the attainment from a more rational perspective, we may say that to study the life of Crowley, is to take a look at his Soul, wherein hidden, we may find the nature of his Angel. And then, from this vantage point of understanding, these influences articulated perfectly in the Conversation between him and his Angel rendered into our Holy Books, may take on a character from which we can learn and establish a clear aim for our own work as magicians.

“Love is the law, love under will.”