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

 

Every Oath in the outer Order of the GD includes the grant for the Aspirant to speak openly about the A.’.A.’.  and consider also what Crowley writes:

There is also a rule that the Members of the A.’. A.’. shall not know each other officially, save only each Member his superior who introduced him and his inferior whom he has himself introduced.

We suggest very strongly that when presenting oneself either to the public at-large or to other A.’.A.’. members; within and without one’s particular lineage, that the use of one’s grade as a credential; even in signature contradicts the spirit of the injunction against officially recognizing one another.  A Grade represents more than a measure of accomplishment; but a level of consciousness attained.  There are internal and unobservable qualities of mind that are vitally important to a full expression and understanding of these Grades.  These being an experience of one’s individual consciousness, there is no way to convey that to another and nothing for another to value or find impressive.

A Grade attained, should not be used to present one’s ideas in any authoritative manner; but the force of the ideas themselves should convey their own authority.  Still, those who are of us are so few and it can be a pleasurable experience to meet with one another when those rare occasions present themselves.  And with the Internet, great alliances can create movements built upon such great ideas.  This serves a vital function in the healthy development of the Thelemic paradigm.  But there are those that present themselves with the higher more exalted grades of Our Order in order to establish intellectual authority as a force of argument.

Clearly, there is a need for credulity that naturally arises in social situations and people become naturally curious about one another.   But the presentation of ‘high-fallutin’ credentials is a condescension that is a petty, power-play of an egoistic personality.  The reason for the injunction against official recognition is to avoid the social trap of ‘Grade Happiness.’  So then how should one recognize an Aspirant or Adept of the A.’.A.’.  without ultimately, establishing a corruption of the injunction?  And there are a growing number of people claiming high Grades; Adeptus Minor and beyond;  that while they may believe themselves to be these Grades, without certain observable evidence, one should not accept their pedigree.  There are certainly general and objectively observable evidences of an Adept of the A.’.A.’.

A knowledge of such evidence will hold back those who use high Grades to give some force to their ideas; a logical fallacy that is also a mis-representation of the A.’.A.’.   And that this knowledge should become generally recognized by all would serve to limit this type of behavior so that a certain integrity about the function of Our Order be held to a high standard; in deed and in reputation.

[Outer ] Order of the G.D.
(Man of Earth)
(Neophyte, Zelator, Practicus & Philosophus)

Aspirants to the A.’.A.’., from the Neophyte Grade forward are in their success at the craft of Magick, generally beyond most other talents displayed by the adherents of other systems; Our Order being that demanding in its instruction.   But these talents are not necessarily obvious and though we are few, relative to the general population.

[Inner] Order of the R.C.
(Lover)
(Adeptus Minor-Within/Without, Adeptus Major & Adeptus Exemptus)

Adeptus Minor

First and foremost, it has long been taught in the White School of Magick that an Adept will generally not admit to being an Adept.  Now, Crowley made this claim at several points in his writings; but of course, he was founding a system of attainment and we should understand the distinctive effort of his prophecy and instruction.  He had to explain the Grades and hence, had to make the claim.  W we should leave the prophet as an exception to the rule.

The Adeptus Minor encounters the awareness of his or her star as set both within and without the perfected self.  One’s humanity is brought to a certain fullness in capacity and awareness.  However, the Adept won’t admit to being an Adept.  So there’s no quality but the perception amongst the laity of what Motta calls an ‘internal combustion.’

Certain people have a greater developed astral body than the norm, either due to deliberate training, genetic inheritance, magnetic influences of where they live or the people with which they enter into contact with.  For example, trained Initiates, are themselves, developed to a high degree, but not of a degree raised enough to have overwhelmed the Ego, possess intensely magnetic, disturbing personalities for sensible people who are not accustomed to the existing presence of psychic force in high tension.  In circumstances in the which Aspirants already of a certain development extend the conscience of the internal vehicles with greater ease, those that are not prepared can  become extremely disturbed by the constant presence of an initiate.  Therefore, advanced occultists that, without having yet reached total balance and destruction of one’s powers, and allow the profane to enter in one’s circle, are being imprudent and until indiscreet.  But they cannot, in all fairness, be accused of abusing their faculties. They emanate force involuntarily, due to its high internal load.  The initiates of higher advancement always live away from the multitude, they not only need isolation for their work, but know its influence produces a violent psychic reaction in the profane.

But also, the work of the Adeptus Minor and Adeptus Major in the world are discoverable along certain, more positive lines.  Crowley writes of the Adeptus Minor:

His work is to manifest the Beauty of the Order to the world, in the way that his superiors enjoin, and his genius dictates.

In other words, the Adept should be working through certain means to show the spiritual nature of the Great Work and its fruits.  We have found this in the past within the art and philosophy of many great men from Renaissance painters and scientists to generals and statesmen (especially with those Rosicrucians involved in the American Revolution).  These bright stars in history and in contemporary society do not need to list their credentials; there light being readily observable.  We have such works as those of Pico de Mirandola and Sir Isaac Newton; George Washington and Benjamin Franklin.  Many of the great aesthetic experiences have been expressed through Rosicrucianism and Neo-Platonic/Hermetic thought.

Adeptus Exemptus

The most certain proof by which to recognize an Adept is indisputable as it involves a published tome that specifically deals with the subject of Magick in contrast with that which is more subtly conveyed in the sciences, arts and humanities of the Major and Minor Adepts.  Crowley writes of the Adeptus Exemptus:

The Grade of Adeptus Exemptus confers authority to govern the two lower Orders of R. C. and G. D. The Adept must prepare and publish a thesis setting forth His knowledge of the Universe, and his proposals for its welfare and progress. He will thus be known as the leader of a school of thought.

(Eliphas Levi’s “Clef des Grands Mysteres,” the works of Swedenborg, von Eckarshausen, Robert Fludd, Paracelsus, Newton, Bolyai, Hinton, Berkeley, Loyola, etc., etc., are examples of such essays.)

We see here a list of known men of this Grade and should of course, include Aleister Crowley on this list.  These men have had an extraordinary impact on human thought through their published works.  And without such a tome in the library of human letters, one should find the claim by anyone of having reached this Grade or being beyond this Grade as being ignoble.  More than several people today are attacking the credulity of Our Order by making such claims.

[Supernal] Order of the S.S.
(Hermit)
(Magister Templi, Magus & Ipsissimus)

After the inauguration of a school of thought, and that having its profound impact; only then can one have the personal force to found a legitimate Magickal Order.  Only those of the Supernal Triad are in full possession of, and have the full experience of attainment; thus possessing the Magickal power to build such an egregore.  Crowley writes of this:

Members of the Order are each entitled to found Orders dependent on themselves on the lines of the R. C. and G. D. orders, to cover types of emancipation and illumination not contemplated by the original (or main) system. All such orders must, however, be constituted in harmony with the A.’. A.’. as regards the essential principles.

The formula of attainment is that one having surrendered the ‘ego’ to the Abyss; subsequently having ‘erased’ his or her personality, can now contemplate individuated consciousness from the perspective of the godhead.  The personality in crossing the Abyss is ejected back down into the Ruach and it is said that a star is simultaneously cast into the heavens; an intimate connection being had between the star and the Ruach.  Therefore, his or her personality will not affect the character of the order.  But having founded an order in itself is not evidence of having attained a Supernal Grade.

The Magus

A Magickal Order is founded upon a Magickal ‘Word.’  The word itself should display a certain creative eloquence; qabalistically, as well as being that which the Supernal Adept is clearly identified.  That Crowley uttered the word of the Aeon, establishes him as the leading Magus for a time.  And another must eventually come along.  In the meantime, others may establish their own Magickal formulae along certain lines as Crowley instructs:

The essential characteristic of the Grade is that its possessor utters a Creative Magical Word, which transforms the planet on which he lives by the installation of new officers to preside over its initiation. This can take place only at an “Equinox of the Gods” at the end of an “Aeon”; that is, when the secret formula which expresses the Law of its action becomes outworn and useless to its further development.

This does not mean that only one man can attain this Grade in any one Aeon, so far as the Order is concerned. A man can make personal progress equivalent to that of a “Word of an Aeon”; but he will identify himself with the current word, and exert his will to establish it, lest he conflict with the work of the Magus who uttered the Word of the Aeon in which He is living.

Only these Grades discussed have any objective means by which they can be evidenced.  And only those having created and established such evidences in their life’s work can be identified as being those having accomplished the Great Work.

Love is the law, love under will.