BONA DEA, A Mind Portrait of Individualism The thesis composes a mind-portrait of a millennial notion of fear and anxiety. I created a fictional character named BONADEA ; she embodies the millennial longings and self-devotion. I am connecting her mind to occult philosophy- and theory, this to elevate her subjective worldview, which is a product of the individualistic culture of late Western capitalism. I am presenting One selected structure of be- liefs, excluded from objectivity that might lead to an ephemeral subjective understanding of fear and anxiety. Every I is from the perspective of BONA DEA, ev- ery WE is referring to the millennials. The work is fictional and consists of diary notes and essays. BONA DEA, the roman goddess, the wife, the sister, Daughter of the nature god Faunus. She was the fauna, the female equivalent to the horned god. Cornelia Isaksson 2 Rietveld Academie 2017/2018 Biliography (1) (10) “The shining ones” is used by DEA to en- She uses the story of Pan to understand her hance her belief in the millennials being off- own actions, furthermore to legitimize them springs of occult gnosis theory. The term re- by accepting them as a necessity creating fers to her generation being descendants of change. Serpent power. (11) (2) By connecting Pan to her own anxiety, she Thelema and The book of the Law serve as undermines it and starts believing she actu- the catalyst for DEA by connecting the Thel- ally can control it. emite law to contemporary individualistic standards. (12) The Night of Pan translates her overcoming (3) of anxiety. Aiwass is used like an oracle, to foresee the future of her generation (13) The Aeon of Maat represents a potential so- (4) cial and political change in the west. “Following the orbit”, is linking her general attempt of self-discovery to the Liber AL. The Bona Dea is using magic to regain faith in her Holy Guardian Angel, being the guide to her future. Like an exposed antenna she branches psyche - like a therapist but for free. out receiving hopeful waves of evidence. This is why she desires a connection between her- (5) self - her generation and the occult tradition. The Will is the core of individualism and late She demands to be an outcome of something capitalistic ideals. unlimited - unlimited membership of self-re- alization. She needs to know that her self-de- (7) votion is not just another yoga girl discovering “Aeon of Horus”, is assembling the growing of a transcendent mind. Or at least that the yoga individualism from late1800 until today in to a girls next to her is practising a craft carved out little nice occult package. by The Force of The Serpent to work as a weap- on of mass-illumination. She is hyperlinking her (8) reasoning thru the occult books she reads, us- Rudolf Steiner and Friedrich Nietzsche are ing them as a passage to decode herself. By es- discussed to enhance the evidence of her caping into the magic realm of reasoning she is generation living in the Aeon of Horus. bungee jumping her mind into an extreme sport of self- discovery. Dea is just another mind, just (9) another self-devoté, stuck in the act of deci- The Force of The Serpent, Is what she be- phering. Stuck in the in bad reception. World lieves to be the elemental force of all knowl- is a dead zone where she frantically moves edge. around to get just another bar of reception to make a call to something else. 3 Biliography (A – E) (N) Aleister Crowley, R. E. (1904). The Book Of the Thelemapedia. ( 27 10 2012). Thelemapedia. Law 1976. Egypt. From http://www.thelemapedia.org/index. php/Main_Page 19 10 2017 (F) (O) Steiner, R. (1894). The Pholosophy Of Free- – chapter 3 based on : Hine, P. (1995). Con- dom. Berlin: The Rudolf Steiner Press . densed Chaos. Tempe, Arizona, USA: New Falcon (G) Publications. Hine, P. (2017). Prime Chaos: Ad- Nietzsche, F. (1886) Beyond Good and Evil. ventures in Chaos Magic. UK: Original Falcon NY, Cambridge University Press 2002 Press. Carroll, P. J. (1987). Liber Null & Psy- chonaut. York Beach, Maine, USA: Samuel (H) Weiser, INC. Thelemapedia. (den 27 10 2012). Thelemape- dia. From (P) http://www.thelemapedia.org/index.php/ – chapter 4 based on : Hermetic Library (03 Main_Page den 19 10 2017 07 2017). From https://hermetic.com/dio- nysos/beyond3 19 10 2017 (I) The Holy Bible, Foundation Publications, Inc. (Q) Anaheim, CA (January 1, 1998) Isaiah 14:12 H.P. Lovecraft, Kenneth Grant (2013). The Dark Lord p.63, Lake Worth, Florida USA :Ibis Press (J) Cohen, S. (1972 ). Folk Devils and Moral Pan- ics . NY: MacGibbon and Kee Ltd . (K) Borgeaund, P. (1988 ). The cult of Pan in an- cient Greece . Chicago and London: The Uni- versity of Chicago Press. (L) Kierkegaard, S. (1844). The Concept of Anx- iety. Denmark: Princeton University Press. M Torr - alba, F. (2011). The essence and forms of fear in hypermodernity . Francesce Torralba , 56- 68. 4 Dictionary 93 Liber AL - It is common for Thelemites to greet each –The Book Of The Law, is the central sacred Dictionary other with “93” in person as well text of Thelema. as in the opening and closing of written cor- respondence. This custom derives from Liber XV Aleister Crowley’s guideline that Thelemites - The Gnostic Mass. In many ways it is similar should greet each other with the Law. Since in structure to the Mass of the Roman Catho- saying the entire Law can be cumbersome, lic Church. However, the comparison ends using 93 has become a kind of shorthand. there, as the Gnostic Mass is a celebration of the principles of Thelema. It is the central rite CBT of Ordo Templi Orientis and it’s ecclesiastical - Cognitive behavior therapy, an abbreviation arm, Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica. for goal-oriented psychotherapy treatment that takes a hands-on, practical approach to Maat problem solving. Its goal is to change peo- Egyptian goddess of truth and justice, gov- ple’s patterns of thinking and so change the erness of the Aeon of Maat. The time of the way they feel. maturing of the human spirit. Eccleasia Gnostica Catholica Magnum Opus – A Thelemic ecclesiastical rite that includes Following the will /the great work the church within Ordo Templi Orientis. The chief function of EGC is the performance of Night of Pan the Gnostic Mass (Liber XV) Within the system of Thelema, the Night of Pan, or N.O.X., is a mystical state that rep- Gnosis resents the stage of ego-death in the pro- – Greek noun for knowledge - referring to the cess of spiritual attainment. idea that there is special esoteric knowledge. Orbit Gnostic saint The path following the will /the great work/ – A saint that is listed in Liber XV, the Gnostic Latin: Magnum Opus. Mass. Ordo Templi Orientis Thelema It is a secret, fraternal organization similar to Θελημα in Greek, means will. It is the name of that of Freemasonry, with a series of graded the philosophical school and religious matrix initiation. For its teachings and principles of established in 1904 with the writing of Liber organization, it has accepted the Law of AL (The Book of the Law) by Aleister Crowley Thelema, which is expressed as “Do what (1875-1947). thou wilt.” The Holy Guardian Angel Stars/The Shining Ones - Representative of one’s truest divine na- Referring to the millennial generation ture within Thelema. 5 Will Used to indicate the specific and essential meaning of the concept of Will in Thelema, especially as in the Law of Thelema - “Do what though wilt, shall be the whole of the Law” (AL I:40) as opposed to the more general meaning of the word as it is used outside of Thelemica. Qabalah - is an aspect of Jewish mysticism, an esoteric offshoot of Judaism. 6 I was sleeping with the land of Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law: mirrors reflected a beautiful disaster, a proud creation of my orbit. “Every man and every woman is a star” Dear coiled creations, The Shining Ones 93 (1). You, the stars whom must follow thy true orbit, the stars that truly only connect in a collision of destruction. My name is Bona Dea, and I am writing to you with the concern of our future. Gnosis, Greek noun for personal knowledge, defining knowledge which is opposite yet coex- istent with intellectual knowledge. It is the knowledge we tend to reject since it is assumed to not generate profit. By sharing my gnosis, giving you selected insight of my magical arse- nal, diary and research; I hope to extend the orbit from personal to magical. Connecting Us, the shining ones, to our foregoer Discussing the fallout of Us following the orbit Sharing My gnosis of remedy Foreseeing the future of Our Aeon 7 8 10/2 2017 I was fucked by a force penetrating me from every hole, gathered in the chest for my levitation. The force raised me up, in a straight line, head down- legs up. ...Then the invertation started. With my own tongue leading the way, I turned myself inside out. I came so hard there was nothing left. I think I entered the abyss or whatever it might be. It was grey I felt completely empty and finally fulfilled. "As was said at the opening of the second chapter, the Single Supreme Ritual is the attainment of the Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel. It is the raising of the complete man in a vertical straight line..