Confucianism, Thelema, and Tradition [418 Words]

This is the last of my targeted word count writings. Future work will be less artificially constrained.

Recently, I have been fascinated by Confucianism. It created a meritocratic system of self-cultivation that lasted for centuries. While its practice may never have matched its ideals, I think we can learn much from this tradition. The official Thelemic viewpoint on Confucianism is favorable as well. The prophet references it in his new comment for verse III:53. Mongol is taken to be a probable reference to Confucianism (personally, I think it refers to all traditions of the “Mongols”). It, along with Buddhism, Hinduism, and the Qabalah, are taken as correct in essence, but imperfect in practice.

These practices have, by virtue of Crowley, Guénon, and Evola, had their flesh torn, as per III:53. The sole exception seems to be Confucianism. Crowley addressed Buddhism, Qabalah, Taoism, and the two traditions from III:51-52 (Christianity and Islam). Guénon dealt with Hinduism, Christianity, and Islam. Evola addressed Buddhism. These aren’t exhaustive, but reflect their work in conjunction with III:50-54. Other than a brief mention in Evola’s work on Taoism (in itself, a brief gloss), Confucianism has been largely ignored. This is unfortunate, as few traditions have the innate restorative power for a world fallen into the Kali Yuga as does Confucianism. It’s meritocratic methodology would restore the “confusion of the castes” that Guénon and Evola chronicled. Further, it would be self-selected and free from any bias other than the inherent bias of ascription to the principles being espoused (in this case, Thelema). Also, the intent of Confucianism seems to be replicated in Crowley’s vision of the AA and the reading lists.

The purpose of Confucianism is the cultivation of the superior man. To achieve this, one studies and practices the prescribed teachings. Beyond this, many Chinese dynasties utilized Confucian knowledge as the base for selecting government officials. Testing was a necessary component and one’s score determined one’s position within the government. These tests looked much like those I have seen for entrance into the A∴A∴. While some questions were capable of being answered by rote memorization, certain questions were designed so as to allow the student to show their own comprehension and internalization of the material. These questions had no specific answer (though they probably had wrong answers).


The A∴A∴ system, as it was written by Crowley, seems to be Confucian in nature. One is given Thelemic texts to study, along with materials meant to illuminate understanding and provide background to the texts. These are conjoined to practices which are meant to provide an experiential reference.