93 (Thelema)
The number
93 is of great significance in the religion of
Thelema, originated by
Aleister Crowley in
1904 with the writing of
The Book of the Law. The central philosophy of Thelema is in the two phrases from Liber AL: "Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law" and "Love is the law, love under will." The two primary terms in these statements are Will and Love, respectively. In the Greek language, they are
Thelema (Will) and
Agape (Love). Using the Greek technique of
isopsephy, which applies a numerical value to letters, the letters of both of these words when added together equal 93:
* Thelema = Θελημα
** Θ (Theta) = 9 +
** ε (Epsilon) = 5 +
** λ (Lambda) = 30 +
** η (Eta) = 8 +
** μ (Mu) = 40 +
** α (Alpha) 1
** = 93
* Agapé = Αγαπη
** Α (Alpha) 1 +
** γ (Gamma) 3 +
** α (Alpha) 1 +
** π (Pi) 80 +
** η (Eta) 8
** = 93
The relevance of this technique is found in the art of correspondence. When two words have the same value, they are said to have a meaningful connection. In this case, it is considered significant that the two central concepts of Thelema—Will and Love—are of equal value, and therefore have a direct connection. Similarly, since 23 is the ninth prime number, and 9 is 3 squared, some deem 23 an algebraic mirror to "thelema/agape=93"; see also wikipedia entries for
number 23,
the 23 enigma, and the 'other correspondences' section for the
number 93.
Other correspondences to 93
There are other words found in Thelemic literature that add up to 93 using either
isopsephy or
gematria. These include:
*
Aiwazâ€"Dictated
Liber Legis to
Aleister Crowley in 1904
*
LAShTAL*
FIAOF*
MGNâ€"Compound letter replacing the M in AUM.Other correspondences include:
*
Melieâ€""The Ash", as in
Yggdrasil the World Tree
*
TzBAâ€""Will; star, host"
It is common for Thelemites to greet each other with "93" in person as well as in the opening and closing of written correspondence. This custom derives from Aleister Crowley's guideline that Thelemites should greet each other with
the Law. Since saying the entire Law can be cumbersome, using 93 has become a kind of shorthand.
In informal written correspondence, one often finds the number singly at the head of a letter and in the form "93 93/93" at the end. In this case, the initial "93" stands in for "Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law," and "93 93/93" stands for "Love is the law, love under will." Crowley used this form himself within his own letters.
* Adapted from the
Thelemapedia article,
93. Retrieved
5 April 2005.
**Crowley, Aleister. (1997).
Magick: Book Four. Edited, annotated, and introduced by
Hymenaeus Beta. York Beach, Me. : S. Weiser.
**P-Orridge, Genesis. Thee Psychick Bible: The Apocraphal Scriptures ov Genesis P-Orridge & thee Third MIND ov Psychic TV. Edited by J.A. Rapoza. San Francisco: Alecto Enterprises, 1994.
