NMR ISSUE 45

Activating Miraculous Success
Astrological Forecast 45
Basic Wiccan Knowledge
Brigit's Well
Delores Ashcroft-Norwicki
Dolphin Magick
Editorial 45
Esoteric Symbology of the Tarot
How to Celebrate Yule
Journey Down the River A Pathworking
Letters 45
Maat Magick Nema
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Oxford's Shiel-Na-Gig
Ritual in Light
Solitaries & Gatherings
Spelle of Contagion for AIDS Research
Spiritual Vampires Marty Raphael
Stonesong
The Call Goes Out from the Earth's Cetaceans
The Circle
The Faery Faith
The Goddess in Motion
The Sacred Pentagram
The Sun Ritual
The View from Handscrabble Creek
The Ways of Old
Thelema and Wicca
Tiger
Vireo, Glowworm and Manta Ray/Stingray
Winter Circle Shawn E. Danahoo
Within My Heart

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THELEMA and WICCA

By Varoni Ourania, H, O.M.B.

Thelema is the Greek word for will. Thelema as a magickal practice and religion rests on the foundation of the proper use of one's will; its motto being Do what Thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law. This does not, however, grant free license to irresponsibility and self-aggrandizement. It does prepare one for the understanding and correct use of powers and faculties inherent in humanity and in nature. All that exists is but a manifestation of will, and like will attracts like will through the Universal Laws of Attraction and Vibration. In fact, an accepted definition of Thelemic Magick states that this is the art and science of causing change in conformance with will.

Wicca employs magick in many rituals and ceremonies and in various mundane manners. Most Wiccans might agree that the components of desire and will play an important part in the results of magick. The motto: An it harm none do as Ye will, is a simplified way of saying Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law. The desire creates the magick while the will (Thelema) molds and directs it.

Some see the common Wiccan use of magick as an outer, or exoteric, teaching and practice while others view Thelema and Thelemic Magick as an advanced, or further developed, method of magick, or the esoteric side of the same coin.

In essence, one may take the view that the chief tie of Thelema to Wicca is in the area of the strengthening of the will and in that of magick. Will without magick is simply a mundane attribute. Magick sans will is, at best, a shot in the dark with any results being ineffective or scattered. When Thelemites and Wiccans learn to apply the techniques of magick with the power of the will, they can accomplish anything. So let us not throw stones at each other but rather recognize the strengths we each have and join forces to energize and revitalize our methods of working with forces both terrestrial and ethereal.

Blessed Be, and remember
the word of the Law is Thelema!

History of the
TaraVajran Tradition

The TaraVajran Tradition is a tradition of Occultism rooted in Wicca, Magick and Thelema. It is the uniter of the Eastern and Western Esoteric heritages. The Wiccan connection comes from the Greek oral tradition with a blending of the Alexandrian Craft. The ties to Magick go back to the lineages of the Ancient Hellenic Mystery Schools as well as to Tibetan Buddhism and Vajrayanic studies. And the Thelemic attachment is grounded in various studies and initiatory processes connected with distinct, though related, Magickal Orders and Esoteric (or advanced) Spiritualism. The TaraVajran Tradition has, as its overseers, those called the Nameless Ones. This phrase is akin to Secret Chiefs, the Divine Unknowable Ones, the Great Occult Brotherhood and others.

This Occult tradition was manifested in a public manner (as directed through mediumistic work) in conjunction with the great blessings of the founder's (human) Spiritualist teacher, Tibetan Lama Instructor, and Wiccan Initiator. It came into the awareness of the public on July 19th of 1983. It has recently become a more active and important philosophy with the alliance of its predicted (10 years ago) appearance of a new Messenger who would ally himself with the original founder. This having taken place in the early Autumn of 1991, the TaraVajran Tradition has appropriately evolved into its final stage of fruition leading to the establishment of the Thelemic Monastery and Temple of Tara (now underway). This now creates the first step in the teaching and propagation of Thelema, in a Monastic sense, in the United States.

The TaraVajran/Thelemic Tradition espouses the universal clarion call of Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law. Love is the Law, love under Will. This simple dictum has become perverted, or at least, misunderstood, by many in the Occult Community. This phrase (which, by the way, is centuries old) does not issue licenses to hedonism and irresponsibility. The opposite is the case. That is, the word Thelema (meaning will, and to do it) incorporates in its meaning self-responsibility and true inner desire. Desire and responsibility, in this case, do not imply unbridled lustfulness or rigid stagnant moralism. It does, however, recognize individual freedom to the utmost; and it encourages self-expression, diversity in beliefs, and an acceptance of all rights and truths.

This tradition, briefly, teaches that chivalry is not dead and that by observing the five facets that make up true chivalry, one can live to one's fullest in this lifetime regardless of lifestyle, life station, or life convictions. These five precepts are professionalism, courtesy, integrity, gallantry, and gnosis. These five actions, or qualities, are one of the foundation pillars of both the TaraVajran Tradition and of the monastic training center. All beginners or Probationers of the TaraVajran Tradition must accept this Code of Chivalry.

Another pillar is the cohesiveness of research and study in a tripartite structure of philosophy, science and religion. Although only one facet may be studied, it is the study and understanding of all three facets that will make a clearer and more profound comprehensible picture of Thelema and the TaraVajran Tradition.

Several of the most important researchers in the Occult field instrumental in the TaraVajran Tradition's foundation are Madame Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, Aleister Crowley, Hermes Trismegistus, Geshe Wangyal, Alex Sanders and Gertrude S. There are also several Orders/Organizations which deserve thanks. Those I am at liberty to officially recognize are the S.R.I.A., the F.O.I., the Sylvain Order of the Solistic Serpent, Z.Z.Z., the Grecian Society of Boreas, and The New Order of the Old (Austrian Branch).

The representative gods and goddesses of the tradition (and monastery) include Tara, Avalokitesvara, Horus and Hekate. We are not exactly eclectic, though it would appear that way. In the Outer Circle we fully accept various, though related divinities; in the Inner Circle, diversity streams into unity, pluralism becoming monadism, and the All expressed as the One. TaraVajrans do not merely accept universality; they only adopt something when there is sound scientific, philosophical and religious facts both physically demonstrable and intellectually sound. We are not averse to change or adaptation; we know that all knowledge is open change with time. It is the Universal Truths which do not alter, they are merely occluded by human invention with precise intention. All Truths are but One Truth; all Life is but One Life; all Love is but One Love. Live and Love in the Light.

The Outer Tradition

The TaraVajran Tradition has several roots: one of its cofounders was an Alexandrian Wiccan with Blavatskian overtones while the other was a Spiritualist Medium and Thelemic Occultist. With a combining of forces and further training and initiatory preparations, the Tradition was formally established in 1983. The focus has shifted, and solidified, since that beginning. The original founder, with a new associate, has transformed the TaraVajran Tradition into a viable form of Thelema. They are now in the process of constructing the first Thelemic Monastery in the United States. They are a legally recognized, tax exempt, religious, Magickal and educational Order and organization. The process culminated in a synthesis of Old Religion principles (both East and West) with the full acceptance of the Thelemic and Magickal views set out in The Book of the Law. The founders are well versed and integrated into the Mysteries/Secrets of several Orders of importance and work side by side with several Orders now on the world scene. A major goal is to create a neutral ground for all true Occultists to gather, know each other, and hopefully, form ties for mutual benefit. The vision is a sort of United Nations for Occultists.

TaraVajra is the term applied to members and followers of the philosophical, religious, magickal and natural belief system based on the Wisdom of Tara. To be TaraVajran means to be initiated into a tradition that sees the Truths connecting rites and rituals of East and West as having common roots. These roots, however, have taken on the character of the various places and cultures to which they have migrated. Although the outer ceremonies, actions movements, language, etc. vary from continent to continent, the basic root ideas and symbolism remain intact.

The Craft of TaraVajra is the craft of the Wise Followers of the Wisdom of Tara; the followers of Tara who are a manifestation of the Nameless Ones. This is a religious philosophy as well as a working magickal system. Through proper training and guidance, the neophyte is introduced into the workings and mysteries of the Universe. One is instructed to employ and control elements and forces inherent in everything.

Psychic and spiritual development and unfoldment is a necessary facet of the TaraVajran Tradition. The purpose of this tradition is to reawaken the dormant forces, powers, talents and elements that are a part of one's native constitution as is revealed in all the manifestations of Natural Law. The forces are to be directed and channeled from within to the physical environment without.

The TaraVajran Tradition of today has synthesized the Mother ideals with the Daughter actions, thus creating a religious system for the intelligent and advanced thinking person. The Light of the Future is now seen in the Present from its rebirth out of the Past.

Varoni Ourania is an Arch-Priestess in the Ordo Mysterium Baphe-Metis; a Psychotherapist and Teacher in both the public and private sectors. She is a popular lecturer on the Occult.