+-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Sysop's Note: The following is the E)ditorial from ThelemaNet, FidoNet | | 161/93 at (415) 548-0163, on 22 Aug 86. Enjoy! - Brad Hicks, WeirdBase | +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ Answers to Frequently Asked Questions. 1. Q: What's all this '93' stuff, anyway? A: One of the signs of a Thelemite is that they will tend to start each letter or meeting with the salutation "Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law", and end with "Love is the law, love under will." This is cumbersome, to say the least. So instead, we as often as not use the expression "93", which is the numerological equivalent of certain special words, such as Thelema (Will) and Agape (Love). The shorthand "93 93/93" means "Love is the law, love under will". (See? A pun! Actually, it would look better drawn as a fraction.) 2. Q: So what's a Thelemite? A: A "Thelemite" is a subscriber to the doctrine of Thelema. Most Thelemites (but not all) are students of the works of Aleister Crowley. We differ radically from each other in almost all the things we may do, but at the center is the acceptance of the philosophy: Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law. Love is the law, love under will. Every man and every woman is a Star. 3. Q: Are you Satanists? A: No. Are you a murderer and a rapist? Neither am I. And I'd rather you didn't associate me with them. Satanism is a Christian heresy, and doesn't interest me in the least (except academically.) 4. Q: Are you all a bunch of loonies? A: Some people think so. There are a lot of loonies in Magickal circles, just as there are in any artistic circles. If you don't like free- thinkers and creative madmen, you might not like us either. But that's OK. We probably wouldn't like you. 5. Q: You guys spell things funny. Why? A: A couple of examples: we spell it "MAGICK" to distinguish it from stage prestidigitation. We pronounce it "mage-ick", by the way, to make the same distinction. Some people think I spell QABALA funny; they prefer spellings like "Cabala" or "Kabbalah" or whatever. I say: the Hebrew word is QOPH-BETH-LAMED, where the Q is one of Hebrew's many guttarals. It is a different sound from (say) the Kaph in "Kosher". And, on occassion, I just mis-spell words out of laziness.