Liberty and Self-Government

by Thelemic Golden Dawn

LIBERTY AND SELF-GOVERNMENT

By David Cherubim (Frater Aurora Aureae)

Copyright 1999 e.v. The Order of the Thelemic Golden Dawn.

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

Liberty is the creative power to be yourself and to choose your own path in life without interference. It is the consequence of accepting and maintaining complete responsibility for your own thoughts, choices and actions, as well as making null all things that oppose or restrict your rights as an individual.

As Thelemites, we are independent, self-governed, autonomous men and women. We are free to govern and to control our own lives in accordance with our own natures and wills. The Thelemic Way is for the free expression of each individual in the world, allowing for each of us to pursue our self-chosen and unique path in life without interference from any man, government or religious institution.

To restrict or violate the freedom of the individual is to interfere with his or her life. To impose on this freedom, to restrict its nature, or to violate its code, is the great enemy of the individual. Governments, in general, play a critical role in the perpetuation of the life of this enemy, whereas it should be the responsibility of the government to defend, protect and promote our freedom as individuals, never to restrict this freedom and to violate our individual rights. Otherwise it is not government, but a bar to our progress and evolution.

As Thelemites, we respect and assert every individual as unique, and recognize their own special value in the Universe, affirming the right of everyone to live their own life in their own way. Self-ownership, self-responsibility and self-government are vital elements of our Thelemic Way of Life. In our free way of thinking, the government itself should principally exist to protect and defend our rights to live in absolute freedom. It should not be allowed to violate the rights of any individual and it should only be permitted to exercise criminal law in the event that one has violated the individual rights of another.

As Thelemites, we believe and assert that we are free to control our own lives and we do not give that control over to another. Our life is our own responsibility. We do not let others govern or dominate our lives, and we do not fear to be ourselves and to do our own Wills, but rather do we step forward as true individuals -- responsible, strong and free! -- taking it upon ourselves to be and do what we Will without violating the Will or individual rights of another.

The same liberty we have and desire we also grant to others. We should all be trusted to live our own life in freedom. Lack of trust has been one of the great enemies of mankind, stripping us of our human integrity and respect. It has been the cause of much unnecessary suffering and conflict in the world, between man and man, nation and nation. Lack of trust by the government is detrimental to the free development of the individual. Governments, in general, do not trust, respect or promote the individual. And what is society -- which they claim to serve -- but a collection of individuals? It is individuals who make up society; otherwise, society is only an illusion. The individual is the Soul of Society, and the individual is what counts. A government should exist to protect and promote the fundamental rights of the individual. As it now stands, most so-called forms of government are making people serve their own bureaucratic needs more than serving the genuine needs of the individual. They are in direct conflict with their own intended nature, and it is the people who are directly affected by this conflict, making them weak and dependent, rather than strong and independent.

A Thelemite is one who controls him or herself, not another. Our object is to live and let live, to be free and to give equal freedom to others, to control our own life and to allow all others to do the same. We actively promote the freedom and spirit of the individual. Every individual should be given the equal opportunity to control his or her own life and to be responsible for him or herself. To deprive any one of these gifts of life is to interfere with his or her unique and essential way to self-fulfillment. Every man and every woman is a Star. It is our Great Work, as unveiled Stars of Nuit, to freely pursue our own Orbits of Life, to follow the Way of our own True Natures, and to give equal opportunity to every other Star to do the same, letting all, who Will, become masters and leaders of their own self.

Thelema makes for leaders of the self, not dependent followers of an impersonal and mechanical system of the government. Most so-called forms of government as we know them today are making slaves out of people, not leaders of the self. They are detrimental to the people and they should be abolished, reduced or reconstructed by the Mighty Hand of Liberty to harmonize with the fundamental needs and rights of the individual. Where there's a Will, there's a Way! And as Thelemites, we have the Will and we have a Way -- the Way of Self-government!

Love is the law, love under will.