User:Dan~enwiki/Thelema
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Thelema is a school of thought put together or openly revealed by Aleister Crowley in 1904, when he wrote or received The Book of the Law. From this,[1] Crowley took the Koine Greek noun θέλημα ("will", from the verb θέλω: to will, wish, purpose) as the name of the philosophical, mystical and religious system which he subsequently developed, which includes ideas from occultism, Yoga, and both Eastern and Western mysticism (especially the Qabalah).[2][3][4] Early Christian writings use the word to refer to the will of God,[5] the human will,[6] and even the will of God's opponent, the Devil.[7] But many see the Book's usage as a reference to François Rabelais (16th century),[1] who used both a French form of the word Thelema and the Thelemic phrase "fay çe que vouldras" ("Fais ce que tu veux," or, "Do what thou wilt") in his famous books, Gargantua and Pantagruel.[8]
Another predecessor appeared in the mid 18th century when Sir Francis Dashwood used the phrase at Medmenham.[9][10][11] Thus Shri Gurudev Mahendranath, in speaking of svecchachara, the Sanskrit equivalent of the phrase "Do what thou wilt",[12][13][14] wrote that "Rabelais, Dashwood, and Crowley must share the honor of perpetuating what has been such a high ideal in most of Asia."[15]