Do what thou whilt shall be the whole of the Law.
The doctrine of original sin; I always thought it was a fucked up idea. I’m just born, an innocent little baby, yet I deserve hell for eternity just because I had the misfortune of being born human? Because some dude I never knew way back when did something God didn’t like? That makes me a sinner? How is that fair? How is that ok? What a ridiculous arbitrary system. But no it’s ok because God went and had his son (who is somehow also him at the same time) murdered to appease his wrath? Why can’t he just practice mindfulness meditation and calm himself down? Maybe go see a psychiatrist to learn how to manage his anger problem?
And here’s the kicker; that’s not even what Paul was on about in that passage. It’s an artifact of a bad translation. (See ISBN 978-0300265705)
Paul was saying that because Adam and Eve ate of the fruit they became aware of the dichotomy of good and evil. The sin and evil was already there, they just became aware of it and since they were aware of it they now had to deal with it. The original sin wasn’t even the eating of the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil, it was when they became ashamed of themselves for being naked and hiding from God. They willfully separated from God out of shame for their bodies which were his creation in the first place. So therefore having separated themselves from God they had to deal with the consequences of leaving communion with the godhead.
So now going beyond Paul, now here’s where it gets quabbalistic and where my penchant for ceremonial magick comes in. They separated from God. Their hearts (tipareth) fell from union with the Trinity (the supernals) rending the tree and leaving the abyss, da’at, behind where tipareth should be, and falling to earth (malcuth). By sending down Jesus he sent down a lifeline, the axis mundi, a ladder for humanity to climb to reunite with the godhead. Reuniting with the Christ consciousness (reconnecting the spark of life with the supernals, see The Gospel of Thomas 22) opens up the path of the serpent back up the tree, winding along from sephorot to sephorot until you reach the crown (keter) and reunite with God. You start living life in direct contact with your higher purpose and can live life according to your true purpose, your True Will as it were.
This is what quabbalistic ceremonial magick is all about, which is a major component of Thelema. It’s couched in Egyptian religious content instead of Christian (except where it isn’t; Thelema is not ashamed of its roots) but that’s basically the nuts and bolts of it.
Thelema’s take on that stuff is different of course. In Thelema the separation wasn’t due to sin or eating a fruit, nor was it hiding from god, it was done for altogether different reason, one which is much more beautiful:
For I am divided for love’s sake, for the chance of union. -Liber Al Vel Legis I:29
Love is the law, love under will.