On a day when many of my friends in Ordo Templi Orientis were showering each other with love at our biannual convention NOTOCON, a neo-Nazi killed protestor Heather Heyer. A day after we got home the U.S. President spoke out to defend…the neo-Nazi.
At times like this we need to stand up for each other, for ourselves, and for freedom. National Grand Master General Sabazius X’ has been a fierce champion for human rights for many years. He strongly and unequivocally declares that Thelema means freedom for everyone and it is every Thelemite’s responsibility to defend that freedom from those who would take it from anyone.
The ray of encouragement in my life in this dark week has been re-reading his last two keynote speeches. In 2015 he talked about politics and Thelema, and in 2017 he talked about religion and Thelema.
Political Thelema supports universal human rights.
Speaking of Liber Oz, I have heard some say that these are the rights we claim for ourselves as Thelemites. …Yes and no. Sure, we claim them, but that’s because we assert these rights for all humanity. It isn’t enough to enjoy and guard these rights for members of our little in-group. If we remain silent while these rights are being denied to anyone, then we are not really being true to our principles…
Opposing racial and sexual prejudice is a Thelemic value; even for white, heterosexual, middle-class men–like me. Even if we have to summon the courage confront our own fear of losing the automatic social privileges we have become accustomed to as societal insiders.
National Grand Master General Sabazius X keynote to NOTOCON X, Fire of Motion
Religious Thelema elevates the spirit.
We of Thelema desire to seize the tools of religion and employ them to liberate, awaken and challenge the human spirit by appealing to its nobility, its curiosity, its desire to understand itself, its sense of adventure, as well as its sense of humor. We want you to pursue and experience religious ecstasy. We are, therefore, committed to a spiritual struggle against those entrenched ideas and beliefs that have been spread to enslave, oppress, exploit, and divide the human spirit–against those characteristic aspects of religion that make the very word religion repulsive to many.
National Grand Master General Sabazius X keynote to NOTOCON XI, For the Chance of Union
This is as stirring a call to action as I have heard all year. This is a life work.
I would love to see someone publish a book of these keynote addresses. This is among the best new thought on Thelema and powerful statements of hope and courage in dark times. I encourage you to take the time to read through them (or read through them again). Here’s the set: Speeches given at National O.T.O. Conferences.
