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I think of it as trying to act in accordance with your nature. Trying to make everything within your life an expression of what you are. My understanding of the phrase 'every man and woman is star' is connected to this, in that 'a star' is being referenced as a metaphor for the human soul.
We are all stars in our own orbit, but when we stray from that orbit, we restrict the light of that star. For me, doing your will means making sure that you're doing the sort of work that you feel compelled to be doing. Making your money in a way that is an expression of who and what you are. It's also about making sure you are dressing the way you want to be dressing, and if that means getting tailor-made 1960s mod suits made for you, then it's about going out and getting that done. Doing your will is about making sure that you're surrounded by people who make you happy, people who are on the same page as you, or will challenge you, or watch your back when the shit goes down. The people in your life are as much an expression of your soul, and your Thelemic will, as anythig else in your life. Doing your will might be about learning how to cook extraordinary meals so you only ever eat delicious food that makes you feel brilliant. Or it might be about trawling obscure record shops to buy rare northern soul and rocksteady 45s, filling your life with a soundtrack that's a perfect expression your soul.
If you're not living the way that you instinctively know that you should be living, then you are not doing your will. Half of the battle is listening to yourself and working out exactly what it is you want to be doing. And then doing it. If it seems you're a long way off from accomplishing this, better start work on it first thing tomorrow.
I think that's why we're all here, we all have a puzzle to solve, and the process of trying to solve that puzzle is called 'doing your true will'. I think it's more about the process of imaging the life you want and working towards it, than it is about reaching any final utopian state of grace. You make a jigsaw for the pleasure of doing it, it's not all about putting the last peice in place.
This, to my mind, is what 'doing your will' means. It doesn't mean imposing a forceful personality on other people to get what your ego wants. It means just living inaccordance with your essential nature, trying to do more of the things that make you happy and make you feel alive, and less of the things that make you feel small and defeated and dampen the glow of your star/soul.
Interestingly, the notion of a star being a metaphor for the soul is present within Haitian Vodou, within the concept of "Ze'toile", entirely independently of its presence in Thelema. |
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