The True Will – A Journey Through Qabbalah and the Western Mysteries

Central to the Western mystery traditions is the concept of *True Will* – a deep, almost mystical concept that transcends everyday wishing or egoistic desire. 

It is a concept that not only found expression in Aleister Crowley's Thelema teachings, but is also deeply rooted in the symbolism and philosophy of the Hermetic Qabbalah. To understand *True Will*, one must delve into both the structure of creation and the inner structure of the human soul.

 

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What is the True Will?

 

The *True Will* is the deepest, most authentic striving of the individual – what one is "meant to be" in a greater cosmic sense. It is not the result of social conditioning, personal fears, or short-term desires, but the expression of a being's essence in alignment with the divine plan.

 

Aleister Crowley expressed it succinctly in his Thelemic maxim:

"Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law."

But this "will" is not a license for whims or caprice—it is a reference to the *True Will*, which lies beyond the ego.

 

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The True Will and the Qabbalah

 

In the Hermetic Qabbalah, creation is described as a stream of divine light pouring through the ten sefirot of the **Tree of Life**—from **Kether** (the divine crown, pure will) down to **Malkuth** (the material world). Each sefirah represents a level of manifestation—both in the cosmos and in man.

 

The *True Will* is the individual expression of this divine stream of light in man. It corresponds to the movement from *Kether* to *Tiphereth*—the center of the soul, the locus of *heart consciousness*, the inner sun. Tiphereth represents beauty, harmony, and the higher self. Those who have recognized their True Will stand in Tiphereth and are in harmony with the transpersonal divine will.

 

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A Path of Initiation

 

The path to True Will is an initiatory process. It involves penetrating the veils of self:

- the *Nephesh* (the animal, emotional self),

- the *Ruach* (thinking self, associated with moral decisions),

- all the way to *Neshamah* (the higher, divine self).

 

The Qabbalah teaches that human beings are not "random." Every soul is inscribed with a divine spark—a unique path intended in the matrix of life. Recognizing True Will means tuning into this current, not swimming against it.

 

In many esoteric schools (e.g., Golden Dawn, B.O.T.A., A∴A∴), initiation is therefore understood as a "remembering"—a return to that original divine will that existed at the beginning, before the ego (symbolized, for example, by the *Shadow of Daath*) obscured 

the view.

 

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Practical Approach: How to Recognize the True Will?

 

1. Self-Knowledge and Meditation

The path begins with the honest exploration of the self. Meditation, Tarot, dream work, and introspection are tools for detaching oneself from external noise.

 

2. Working with the Tree of Life

By contemplating the sefirot, one recognizes the forces at work within oneself. The journey through the tree reflects the soul's journey to itself.

 

3. Astrology and Numerology

 

Traditionally, birth charts and Kabbalistic name analyses were also used to obtain clues about the soul and its will.

 

4. Service and Harmony

 

The True Will does not bring destruction, but integration. Those who follow it blend harmoniously into the fabric of the world—like a well-tuned instrument in a cosmic orchestra.

 

The *True Will* is not a goal, but a path—an act of alignment with the Divine, as symbolized in the Qabbalah by the Tree of Life. It is the silent knowing that flows from the center of the heart, from Tiphereth, from the center of the self. 

The Western Mysteries teach that every human being carries this will within them. Recognizing and following it is the highest form of magic—and the deepest form of freedom.

 

**"Love is the law, love under will."**

*Liber AL vel Legis, I:57*