The Law Isn’t Your Excuse To Be An A-hole

(everything stated in this blog is based upon my own research, personal practice, and opinion)

Living by the Law of Thelema sounds simple enough: “Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law. Love is the law, love under will.” 

On the surface, it feels like a spiritual get out of jail free card. People hear it and think, “Ah, I can just do whatever I want now.” Cue visions of running barefoot through the forest, tossing aside all responsibilities, and living as a free-spirited chaos gremlin. If you’ve ever tried to live it for real, you know that’s not Thelema. Living your life by the law of Thelema takes work. It’s figuring out what your Will actually is and then living by it with uncompromising honesty. That, my friends, is the most liberating and terrifying commitment you’ll ever make.

This isn’t a Pinterest slogan for this season’s mood board. Thelema is a life philosophy that will strip you down to your bare essence and demand that you either step up or admit you’ve been lying to yourself. It’s messy, exhilarating, and the freedom it offers is worth every ounce of sweat and self-confrontation.

Stop Pretending “Will” Means “Whatever I Feel Like”

First, we need to crush the most persistent misconception right out of the gate. “Do what thou wilt” is not permission to indulge your every passing impulse. It’s not spiritual anarchy, and it’s not a hall pass for being selfish, destructive, or lazy. If your idea of Will is snapping at your partner, being fickle, or binge eating cake because you’re “following your bliss,” then sorry, you’re not doing Thelema, you’re doing ego cosplay.

Your Will is the underlying current of your life, the authentic path only you can walk. It’s not fleeting desire, social rebellion, or a dopamine high. It’s the quiet, unshakable force that pulls you toward the life you were actually meant to live. If you ignore it long enough, it will drag you through the mud until you pay attention. There’s no divine post-it note waiting for you by your morning coffee. It’s a journey of stripping away expectations, family baggage, fear, and all the shiny lies you tell yourself to avoid doing what actually matters.

The Dirty Work of Discovering Your Will

If you think finding your Will is going to be a mystical montage set to inspirational music, think again. It’s more like a spiritual scavenger hunt where the clues are buried under your own denial and bullshit. Finding it involves brutal self-honesty, uncomfortable introspection, and yes, a lot of trial and error.

I suggest starting with radical self-reflection: journaling, meditation, divination, therapy, shadow work, you name it. Dig into what lights you up, what drains you, and what patterns you keep repeating. The universe isn’t going to text your Will if you ask sweetly. You have to sift through your own mess to find it.

Always test everything. Always. Thelema isn’t theory; it’s practice. Try things. Fail. Pay attention to what feels aligned and what feels like a slow death in disguise. Log, and track your progress. Your Will isn’t always glamorous, and it doesn’t always make sense to other people. Sometimes your Will is walking away from a relationship that everyone else thinks is perfect. Sometimes it’s quitting a stable job because it’s killing your soul. Sometimes it’s staying in the hard work when every part of your ego wants to run. Kill the script you were handed. Family expectations, cultural narratives, Instagram inspiration boards…burn them. Your Will doesn’t care what your mother thinks or what’s trending. It cares about who you are at the core and what you came here to do.

The Weight of Responsibility

Here’s the part people like to skip: living by Will is not just freeing, it’s heavy. Once you know your Will, you are accountable for following it. Every choice either aligns with your path or drags you off it. Unlike the frameworks of other spiritual paths, Thelema doesn’t hand you a safety net. No divine parent is going to swoop in and make it all okay if you sabotage yourself.

Living Thelema requires:

Relentless self-honesty: If you’re lying to yourself, you’ve already lost.

Courage: Walking your path will piss people off. Some will call you selfish. Others will envy you. It doesn’t matter.

Discipline: True Will is like a river, you can either flow with it or spend your life bashing into rocks.

Integrity: Will doesn’t need to harm others. If your so-called Will requires stomping on someone else, that’s ego, not alignment.

Every action ripples. Every step defines you. The more you align with Will, the more those ripples amplify. That’s why living Thelema is as much about responsibility as freedom.

How to Actually Live the Law of Thelema

If all of this sounds overwhelming, good. That means you’re paying attention. Here’s how you turn philosophy into reality:

 Know yourself like your life depends on it…because it does. Stop outsourcing your identity to parents, partners, or society. Learn what makes your soul expand and what makes it shrink.

Cut the noise. Social media, news cycles, and cultural narratives are designed to drown out your inner voice. Create space for silence, reflection, and conscious living.

Experiment relentlessly. Thelema is practical, not dogmatic. Test paths. Take risks. When something aligns, you’ll feel it in your bones.

Own your consequences. No excuses. You are your own judge, jury, and executioner. Every misstep is a lesson if you have the courage to learn.

Refuse to compromise your core. People will try to sway you, guilt you, or tempt you into playing small. The price of alignment is the courage to stand firm.

The Beautiful, Terrifying Freedom

The paradox of Thelema is that the more you align with your Will, the freer and lighter life becomes, but only because you’ve taken full responsibility for yourself. Freedom isn’t floating aimlessly; it’s sailing with purpose. It’s terrifying because there’s no one else to blame if you fail. It’s exhilarating because the victories are entirely yours.

When you live by Will, life starts to click. Synchronicities line up. Obstacles melt into challenges you can handle. Even the hardships make sense because they’re part of your path. This ease comes with the price tag of constant self-honesty and the courage to walk alone when necessary.

This isn’t a path for the lazy, the selfish, or the perpetually indecisive. It’s for the ones willing to meet themselves head-on and say, “I will live my life, no one else’s, come what may.” A wild, liberating, and deeply human truth about living by and carrying the responsibility of Will. That… that right there is magick.