magispiegel: The Keys to the Magick of the ‘Will’ are not found in the stanzas that you have quoted above, but are found through the study of the science of the occult forces which exist within our being…the occult anatomy.

Now this is exactly what I am talking about. All this flowery talk about “the study of the science of the occult forces which exist within our being” needs to end. It’s an excuse for people to avoid facing up to the task in front of them.

Anybody interested in following the path of Thelema (and, to be fair, you have freely admitted that you are not one of them) needs to:

a) Determine their will; and

b) Carry it out.

To accomplish (a), you need to know (or at least approach an understanding of) what the true will actually is, or you are just wallowing in illusion and woolly thinking. Reducing it to “occult forces which exist within our being” is just another way of saying “I have no idea what it is, I don’t want to know (because then I might actually have to do it, which may force me to face reality which could be uncomfortable for me), but I want to think I’m doing it – because I like feeling all warm and fuzzy inside – so I’m going to call it mysterious names like ‘occult forces’ so that whilst I can be assured that I never will actually have to face it, I can pretend to myself that I am, since I know in advance I will never be able to say anything sensible about it so I don’t have to feel bad that I can’t”. It’s mindless escapism, a way for you to forever evade failure by agreeing up front with yourself to stay well away from the issue. This has always been the bane of the occult community – a pronounced desire to put romantic mediaeval notions of arcane and foolish wizardry ahead of actual efforts, work and understanding.

You can complain about “exotericism” and “dry psycho-social manifestation” all you like, but let there be no doubt here: the proper domain of the magician, the student of the occult, call it what you like, is the investigation of reality. If the true will is part of reality, then it is something definite, and it can (at least potentially) be described in simple and concise terms. If it is not part of reality, then we should have nothing to do with it. You don’t build bridges or generate electricity by prattling on about “occult forces” and “subtle alchemy”, and you won’t discover your true will by doing that, either. This may offend the glamorous illusions in your mind about what it is you think (or choose not to think) you really are doing, but since the aim is to approach reality as we have already stated, then disenfranchising you from that nonsense is a good thing.

If there is going to be any serious attempt to advance the practice of magick, and to make “spiritual attainment” more accessible, then this has to be understood. This exchange is a good example. For all your talk of “subtle alchemy” you have contributed precisely nothing to the question of what the true will actually is, because your “study of the science of the occult forces” has given you no understanding of the matter; if it had, you would be able to discuss the concept sensibly. This alone should be sufficient to demonstrate the correctness of my position – if you deliberately choose to ignore addressing the question of what the true will actually is, your chances of ever discovering yours approach zero.

You have, on the other hand, provided an excellent illustration of why such an investigation is necessary for someone who has any hopes of attainment, and of where people can expect to end up if they don’t heed this advice, and for that your contribution was valuable.