The Great Work
The Great Work (a.k.a. Evolution) is the collective work of creating playground paradises for the enjoyment of all. The Great Work proceeds from Godhead through seven Evolutionary Stages stages or "days."
Syncretic Terms
The Great Work > Divine Plan, Evolution
Related LP Terms
The Great Work > Debacle, Evolutionary Process, Evolutionary Stages, Four Pillars of Planetary Graduation, Graduation Archetype, Guide, Guide Network, Lightning Path Curriculum, Power Archetype, The Work, World Archetype
Non-LP Related Terms
The Great Work > Doctrine of the Three Times, Eschatology
Notes
The Great Work is about creating playgrounds for incarnated Spirit.
At one level or another, we are all involved in The Great Work. From innkeeper to Chef, mother to mogul, if your goal is to heal, connect, and help create a playground paradise for all life on Earth, you are participating in The Great Work. However, if, OTOH, your primary concern is selfish profit at the expense of others, you are not.
The Great Work includes:
- the cosmic work of creating the Physical Universe (completed almost instantly).
- the solar work of creating planetary systems and heavier elements (completed billions of years ago).
- the evolutionary work of creating a Physical Unit capable of fine-grain manipulation of physical matter (i.e. a Pinnacle Species).
- the engineering work of creating World Systems (i.e. technology and institutions) capable of supporting planetary utopia and Integration.
- the day to day work of making the world a better place.
Contrary to what is typically taught, the Great Work is not an operation that we conduct on our "souls." The Great Work is not an alchemical work of soul purification, not a karmic balancing of debt, and not an attempt to win "daddy's" good graces by proving just how "special" you are. Our souls, our monadic sparks, are already perfect and require no moral, evolutionary, or spiritual development at all. The Great Work is the work of evolving The Body to match the utopian intent of God.
At a spiritual level, the Great Work is about bringing Consciousness to Ground (i.e.Ain Soph to Malkuth, God to Earth).
In Thelema, the Great Work is reduced to the individual practice of Connection, what on the LP would be referred to as simply The Work. "The Great Work is the uniting of opposites. It may mean the uniting of the soul with God, of the microcosm with the macrocosm, of the female with the male, of the ego with the non-ego."[1]
While speaking of the tarot Wheel of Fortune card, Case says "The wheel, moreover, is a symbol of progress, advancement, improvement, and so represents the march of culture, civilization and amelioration which in occultism is called the Great Work."[2]
"Rolling Thunder spoke about the importance and necessity of global healing and service to the Great Spirit."[3]
A mythical representation of The Great Work is provided in the Song of Creation
The goal of the Great Work is the creation of planets capable of hosting advanced, interstellar, civilizations. A planet capable of hosting an advanced, interstellar, civilization may be referred to as a Pearl of Creation.
The great work involves the evolution of planets capable of sustaining abundant life, and the evolution of living forms capable of containing high levels of Consciousness. See Evolutionary Theory
It is important to note that, contrary to what is typically taught in esoteric/exoteric religious organizations, the Great Work is not an operation that we conduct on our "souls". The Great Work is not an "alchemical" work of soul purification nor is it an evolutionary march to individual advancement. Our souls, our monadic sparks, are already perfect and require no moral, evolutionary, or spiritual development whatsoever.
The Great Work can be considered a spiritual/evolutionary operation designed to uplift physical creation.
There are no "chosen" ones, no special places, and no spots where some are elevated above others. Everybody works together and, when the work is completed, everyone Graduates and shares equally in the benefits.
Footnotes
- ↑ Crowley, Aleister. Magick without Tears. Las Vegas, Nevada: Golden Dawn Publications, 1989.
- ↑ Case, Paul Foster.Learning Tarot Essentials: Tarot Cards for Beginners. Vancouver: Ishtar Publishing, 1932. p. 105
- ↑ Krippner, Stanley. Spiritual Dimensions of Healing. New York: Irvington Publishers, 1992. p. 54.
