Editing Thelema (section)

==Post-Crowley developments==
Aleister Crowley was highly prolific and wrote on the subject of Thelema for over 35 years, and many of his books remain in print. During his time, there were several others who wrote on the subject, including U.S. [[Ordo Templi Orientis|O.T.O.]] Grand Master [[Charles Stansfeld Jones]], whose works on Qabalah are still in print, and Major-General [[J. F. C. Fuller]]. Subsequent to Crowley, a number of figures have made significant contributions to Thelema. Each has their own following within the broader Thelemic community.{{sfnp|Evans|2007b}}

===Jack Parsons===
[[File:Jack_Parsons_2.jpg|upright|thumb|left|Parsons in 1941]]

[[Jack Parsons (rocket engineer)|John Whiteside Parsons]] (1914–1952) was an American [[aerospace engineering|rocket engineer]], [[chemist]], and Thelemite [[occult]]ist. Parsons converted to Thelema, and together with his first wife, Helen Northrup, joined the [[Agape Lodge]], the Californian branch of [[Ordo Templi Orientis]] (O.T.O.), in 1941. At Crowley's bidding, Parsons replaced [[Wilfred Talbot Smith]] as its leader in 1942 and ran the Lodge from his mansion on Orange Grove Boulevard.

Parsons identified four obstacles that prevented humans from achieving and performing their True Will, all of which he connected with fear: the fear of incompetence, the fear of the opinion of others, the fear of hurting others, and the fear of insecurity. He insisted that these must be overcome, writing that "The Will must be freed of its fetters. The ruthless examination and destruction of taboos, complexes, frustrations, dislikes, fears and disgusts hostile to the Will is essential to progress."{{sfnp|Parsons|2008|pp=69–71}}

The project was based on the ideas of Crowley, and his description of a similar project in his 1917 novel [[Moonchild (novel)|''Moonchild'']].{{efn|{{harvp|Urban|2006|pp=135–137}}: "The ultimate goal of these operations, carried out during February and March 1946, was to give birth to the magical being, or 'moonchild,' described in Crowley's works.  Using the powerful energy of IX degree Sex Magick, the rites were intended to open a doorway through which the goddess Babalon herself might appear in human form."}} The rituals performed drew largely upon rituals and [[sex magic]] described by Crowley.  Crowley was in correspondence with Parsons during the course of the Babalon Working, and warned Parsons of his potential overreactions to the magic he was performing, while simultaneously deriding Parsons' work to others.{{sfnp|Sutin|2002|pp=412–414}}

A brief text entitled ''Liber 49'', self-referenced within the text as ''The Book of Babalon'', was written by [[John Whiteside Parsons|Jack Parsons]] as a transmission from the goddess or force called 'Babalon' received by him during the Babalon Working.{{sfnp|Pendle|2006|pp=263–271}}   Parsons wrote that ''Liber 49'' constituted a fourth chapter of Crowley's ''Liber AL Vel Legis ([[The Book of the Law]])'', the holy text of Thelema.{{sfnp|Nichols|Mather|Schmidt|2010|pp=1037–1038}}

===Kenneth Grant===
[[File:Kenneth Grant.jpg|thumb|Grant in the library of his Golders Green home, taken by Jan Magee in 1978]]
[[Kenneth Grant (occultist)|Kenneth Grant]] (1924–2011) was an English [[ceremonial magic]]ian and advocate of the Thelemic religion. A poet, novelist, and writer, he founded his own Thelemic organisation, the [[Typhonian Order|Typhonian Ordo Templi Orientis]]—later renamed the Typhonian Order—with his wife Steffi Grant.

Grant drew eclectically on a range of sources in devising his teachings.{{sfnp|Hedenborg White|2020|p=161}} Although based in Thelema, Grant's Typhonian tradition has been described as "a ''bricolage'' of occultism, Neo-Vedanta, Hindu tantra, Western sexual magic, Surrealism, ufology and Lovecraftian gnosis".{{sfnp|Bogdan|2015|p=1}} Grant promoted what he termed the Typhonian or Draconian tradition of magic,{{sfnp|Djurdjevic|2014|p=95}} and wrote that Thelema was only a recent manifestation of this wider tradition.{{sfnp|Djurdjevic|2014|p=106}} In his books, he portrayed the Typhonian tradition as the world's oldest spiritual tradition, writing that it had ancient roots in Africa.{{sfnp|Djurdjevic|2014|p=96}} The religious studies scholar Gordan Djurdjevic noted that Grant's historical claims regarding Typhonian history were "at best highly speculative" and lacked any supporting evidence; however he also suggested that Grant may never have intended these claims to be taken literally.{{sfnp|Djurdjevic|2014|p=109}}

Grant wrote that Indian spiritual traditions like Tantra and Yoga correlate to Western esoteric traditions and that both stem from a core ancient source and have parallels in the perennial philosophy promoted by the [[Traditionalist School]] of esotericists.{{sfnp|Djurdjevic|2014|pp=92–93}} He believed that by mastering magic, one masters this illusory universe, gaining personal liberation and recognising that only the Self really exists.{{sfnp|Djurdjevic|2014|p=98}} Doing so, according to Grant, leads to the discovery of one's True Will, the central focus of Thelema.{{sfnp|Djurdjevic|2014|p=109}}  Grant further wrote that the realm of the Self was known as 'the Mauve Zone', and that it could be reached while in a state of deep sleep, where it has the symbolic appearance of a swamp.{{sfnp|Djurdjevic|2014|p=99}} He also believed that the reality of consciousness, which he deemed the only true reality, was formless and thus presented as a void, although he also taught that it was symbolised by the Hindu goddess [[Kali]] and the Thelemic goddess [[Nuit]].{{sfnp|Djurdjevic|2014|p=100}}

Grant's views on [[sex magic]] drew heavily on the importance of [[sexual dimorphism]] among humans and the subsequent differentiation of gender roles.{{sfnp|Hedenborg White|2020|p=168}} Grant taught that the true secret of sex magic were bodily secretions, the most important of which was a woman's menstrual blood.{{sfnp|Djurdjevic|2014|p=96}} In this he differed from Crowley, who viewed [[semen]] as the most important genital secretion.{{sfnp|Hedenborg White|2020|p=174}} Grant referred to female sexual secretions as ''kalas'', a term adopted from [[Sanskrit]].{{sfnp|Djurdjevic|2014|p=107}} He thought that because women have kalas, they have oracular and visionary powers.{{sfnp|Hedenborg White|2020|p=169}} The magical uses of female genital secretions are a recurring theme in Grant's writings.{{sfnp|Hedenborg White|2020|p=165}}

===James Lees===
[[File:Liber AL - page 60.jpg|thumb|295px|The 'grid' page of Liber AL's manuscript]]
James Lees (August 22, 1939{{sfnp|Thompson|2018}} - 2015) was an English [[ceremonial magic]]ian known for creating the system he called [[English Qaballa]]. In November 1976, Lees explained how he had discovered{{sfnp|Lees|2018}} the "order & value of the English Alphabet."{{sfnp|Crowley|1976|loc=ch. 3, v. 47}} Following this, Lees founded the order [[O∴A∴A∴]] in order to assist others in the pursuit of their own spiritual paths.{{sfnp|Thompson|2018}} The first public report of the system known as English Qaballa (EQ) was published in 1979 by Ray Sherwin in an editorial in the final issue of his journal, ''The New Equinox''. Lees subsequently assumed the role of publisher of ''The New Equinox'' and, starting in 1981, published additional material about the EQ system over the course of five issues of the journal, extending into 1982.{{sfnp|Lees|2018}}

The "order & value"{{sfnp|Crowley|1976|loc=ch. 3, v. 47}} proposed by James Lees lays the letters out on the grid superimposed on the page of manuscript of ''Liber AL'' on which this verse (Ch. III, v. 47) appears (sheet 16 of Chapter III).{{sfnp|Crowley|1976|loc=ch. 3, v. 47}} Also appearing on this page are a diagonal line and a circled cross. ''The Book of the Law'' states that the book should only be printed with Crowley's hand-written version included, suggesting that there are mysteries in the "chance shape of the letters and their position to one another" of Crowley's handwriting.  Whichever top-left to bottom-right diagonal is read the magical order of the letters is obtained.{{sfnp|Stratton-Kent|1988}}

Little, if any, further material on English Qaballa was published until the appearance of Jake Stratton-Kent's book, ''The Serpent Tongue: Liber 187'', in 2011.{{sfnp|Stratton-Kent|2011}} This was followed in 2016 by ''The Magickal Language of the Book of the Law: An English Qaballa Primer'' by Cath Thompson.{{sfnp|Thompson|2016}} An account of the creation, exploration, and continuing research and development of the system up to 2010, by James Lees and members of his group in England, is detailed in her 2018 book, ''All This and a Book''.{{sfnp|Thompson|2018}}

===Nema Andahadna===
[[Nema Andahadna]] (1939–2018) practiced and wrote about [[magick]] (magical working, as defined by Aleister Crowley) for over thirty years. In 1974, she said she had [[Mediumship#Channeling|channelled]] a short book called ''[[Wikisource:Liber Pennae Praenumbra|Liber Pennae Praenumbra]]''.

From her experience with Thelemic magick, she developed her own system of magic called "Maat Magick" which has the aim of transforming the human race.  In 1979, she co-founded the Horus-Maat Lodge. The Lodge and her ideas have been featured in the writings of [[Kenneth Grant (occultist)|Kenneth Grant]].{{sfnp|Grant|1980|p={{page needed|date=July 2021}}}}{{sfnp|Grant|1999|p={{page needed|date=July 2021}}}}

Her writings have appeared in many publications, including the ''Cincinnati Journal of Ceremonial Magick'', ''Aeon'', and ''Starfire''. According to [[Donald Michael Kraig]]:

{{blockquote|Nema has been one of the most influential occultists of the last quarter century although most occultists have never read her works. What Nema has done is influence those who have been writers and teachers. They, in turn, influenced the rest of us.{{sfnp|Kraig|n.d.}} }}