The Jesus Christ Pose

Yes, like the Soundgarden song

Jesus had his Mary, Buddha let Yasodhara go, Nietzsche had a thing for horses, And Crowley loved his blow.

By mythologizing Jesus as an example of perfection and deifying him using the arbitrary ruler of Good and Evil, the council of Nicea created a nonexistent being no one could ever be, thereby ensuring themselves total and complete dominion over the lives of followers because they would always require forgiveness for what god made them. Someone should have pointed out that humans ARE nature and can only be perfect in our imperfections. Using the same measurement used on Jesus, even nature fails to match up. If we recognize that we are a product of nature and begin to use it as a measuring stick for our progress, we can also see that we are flawless in our flaws, just like nature. Thelemites are, therefore, required to celebrate our nature, scars and all, and take holy books like Liber Tzaddy to heart.

I refer to this fetish as the Jesus Christ Pose. It has caused humanity much anguish for over two thousand years and is functioning against human evolution. Other similar forms and archetypes, such as the stories of Mohammed and Buddha, have significantly impacted our evolution. If we remove perfection from the equation, these myths become applicable and valuable as they align with our similarities, human nature, defeats, and triumphs. I have said elsewhere that changing a man into a toad is superstitious because being a frog is not in man's nature. The same thing applies to these archetypes.

Peer pressure and social currency create a perfect environment for the corruption of the Self. In this case, the phenomenon might be called the Aleister Crowley Pose. So many of us struggle to fit into that space. This is ironic because Crowley preached that everyone should glorify their unique, true natures by being more like themselves and less like anyone else, including Crowley.

Intellectually, we can surmise that Jesus was a man; as a man, he could not have embodied the perfection Christianity claims. Christians insisting he was impervious to mistakes, either in temperament or biologically, makes the lesson of his mythos meaningless. This is the entire point that seems to escape Christianity.

This perfection myth was crafted to discourage people from seeking new visionaries in the future. It works well: someone with a message materializes, and people (even those not Christians) try to fit them into the Jesus Christ cast, which has become universally accepted by the masses, even in the Western Mystery Tradition. How well they fit into that mold will determine how seriously they will be taken. Should they not fit into that purity fabrication, anything they have to say - regardless of how valuable it may be, is disregarded.

The best way to break that mold is not to apologize, hide, or deny a prophet's human failings and vulnerabilities but to show that their message is life-enhancing despite them. For Thelemites to play the same perfection game with Crowley as Christians do with Jesus is to ask for trouble. We can already see this manifesting in individuals insisting on "the only True Way to Thelema" playing out in the A.'.A.'. wars. Crowley may have gone out of his way to make sure no one in their right mind would consider him anything other than flawed, thereby making his message much more meaningful because he was just a man, and a man can be a god, which in an ironical twist, was the proper message of Jesus. Crowley said as much. See Liber OZ

In Thelema, we have our flavor of Pharisee. Our gatekeepers shame others from listening to what others say about the philosophy of Thelema unless they fit The Crowley Pose. As they say, "Follow the money." Couldn't we all benefit from more Thelemic philosophers and fewer "Crowley experts?"

Our Pharisees are just as power-hungry, insincere, and self-righteous as the ones in ancient Juda. They wish to restrict the Law to whomever they feel is worthy according to their values, which only serve them. Do we wish for our institutions to be like the Catholic churches, which forbade reading specific texts or questioning the interpretation by the Holy See?

Practicing magick does not mean we will not have problems, struggle financially, or be spared any trials as other humans. We should resist the sham that only "real Thelemites" struggle to pay the rent, relationships, health, or any other affliction that may be part of our True Nature or personal karma. To think otherwise is superstitious and mimics Christianity's prosperity gospel. The Thelemic Pharisees like to create measuring sticks of achievements, which reflect accomplishments they have already accomplished. They have convinced themselves that these accomplishments, no matter how trivial (losing weight, buying a house, getting a job), are marks of magical attainment and love talking down to those who may have other priorities. If we pay close attention, we see that much of these accomplishments came by accident, the work of others, or gifts from their families: What society refers to as "the accident of birth."

Magick will, however, show us how to consecrate the ashes of our old selves so we may rise triumphantly, more ready to face the next ordeal. Ordeals are what growth is all about. Therefore, it is wise to be thankful not only for our blessings but also for our struggles.

Magick can inspire new mythology for the new aeon, contemporary anecdotes, and rights of passage. The magician is responsible for these new narratives.

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