IAO131

IAO131 - a.k.a. I.A.Ω. 131, Aum418 - is an American writer, philosopher, psychologist, mystic, and occultist.

IAO131 is known primarily for his extensive writings on the theory and practice of Thelema, the psycho-spiritual philosophy of Aleister Crowley. A prolific writer and proponent of bringing a more rigorous and scientific attitude to Thelema, IAO131 is also often known to take controversial stances on various positions. He was the creator and editor of the Journal of Thelemic Studies, the first non-partisan, academic journal dedicated to fostering the most modern, current thought in the Thelemic community

IAO131 is a member of the organization Ordo Templi Orientis where he has served in the newly formed Education Committee.

Writings

IAO131's writings started appearing online around the beginning of 2007, focusing mainly on the topics of Thelema, psychology, mysticism, and Buddhism.

Thelema

Potentially his most notable achievement to date is the establishment of the Journal of Thelemic Studies in winter of 2007. The first issue contained articles by notable Thelemites like Gerald del Campo, Ash Bowie, and T Polyphilus. On this production Jason Pitzl-Waters wrote, "The entire journal issue is certainly worth a read for insights into current thought within the Thelema community," and Gerald del Campo remarked, "...A job very nicely done. It is time, that some one showed by way of example, that Thelemites can have opposing views - and yet remain civil. This has been needed for some time." Throughout the month of October in 2007, IAO131 wrote what came to be known as the , which, by its own admission, examines the Book of the Law of Thelema in a "strictly psychological light." This work attempts to show how Thelema is psychologically valid and even seems to have anticipated many psychological models that came decades after the reception of The Book of the Law. This is one of the few openly published commentaries of The Book of the Law and the only work to look at how Thelema can be viewed as psychologically valid. In November 2007, IAO131 wrote an essay on the topic of ethics, morality, and values in Thelema. It is "an in-depth view about how Thelema treats ethics, morality, and values; Thelema's standpoint is correlated both with Nietzsche's three stages of one's metamorphosis as detailed in his "Thus Spoke Zarathustra" and also Carl Rogers' (the eminent psychologist) understanding of values to form a robust synthesis." This essay is notable for its clear explanation of the branch of ethics in Thelema and its offering of a controversial solution in Carl Rogers' theories about values.

Quotations
*"Thelema is an all-encompassing paradigm."
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*"A tree grows tall and strong by virtue of its roots deep underground. The human psyche even more so."
*"We are each emissaries of both life and death even as our heart beats with both systole and diastole and our lungs absorb life with each inhalation only to release it with each exhalation."
*"Solitude, not loneliness. Communion, not assimilation."
*"My joys consist not in quantity, but in the delicate & subtle appreciation of the generally unnoticed."
*"Just as the blazing sunlight is diffused and darkened by the clouds, every individual's Will is obscured by this process of introjecting values. Any star who wishes to burn as brilliantly as possible would surely wish to disperse these clouds. That is, any man or woman who truly wishes to actualize their full potential can and must engage in this process of the re-examination of values."

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