3.4 Special Case Spellings

I. Required Spellings

These forms should be used consistently in publications unless directly quoting another source, preserving the title of a work, reproducing an author’s historically significant usage, or otherwise directed by an editor.

Preferred form

Note
A∴A∴ Preferred form with triangular dot separators where typography permits.
Aeon Preferred over Eon in Thelemic and esoteric contexts.
aeonic Lowercase unless beginning a sentence.
apotropaic Standard spelling.
arcana Plural.
arcanum Singular.
alchemy Lowercase generally unless part of a title or formal name.
astrology Lowercase generally unless part of a title or formal name.
chthonic Standard spelling.
Crowleyan Preferred adjective. Avoid Crowleyite unless intentionally polemical, historical, or factional.
egregore Preferred spelling.
god-name Hyphenated when referring to a divine name used ritually or technically.
godform One word.
grimoire Not grimmoire.
Hadit Standard spelling.
Heru-ra-ha Common form; preserve alternate capitalizations when quoting.
hierophant Standard spelling.
Holy Books of Thelema Capitalize as a recognized textual corpus.
Holy Guardian Angel Capitalize in Thelemic and A∴A∴ contexts.
Horus Standard spelling.
initiate One who has been initiated; also a verb. Do not capitalize unless beginning a sentence.
Knowledge and Conversation Capitalize when used as shorthand for Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel. Avoid using "K&C" as a shortcut.
Law of Thelema Capitalize.
Liber AL Preferred short title.
Liber AL vel Legis Preferred full title.
magic Use for stage magic, fantasy magic, general academic use, or non-Thelemic contexts unless the author’s usage requires otherwise.
magical Preferred adjective, even when the noun is magick. Avoid magickal unless quoting or preserving authorial style.
magick Preferred for ceremonial, ritual, or Thelemic magical practice.
magician Do not use magickian.
Major Arcana Capitalize as a tarot division.
Minor Arcana Capitalize as a tarot division.
New Aeon Preferred in Thelemic context. Current Aeon is preferred by Mere Thelema.
Nuit Standard spelling.
Ordo Templi Orientis Full formal name.
O.T.O. Abbreviated form with periods. Do not use the before the abbreviation.
pathworking One word.
psychopomp Standard spelling.
Qabalah Preferred for Hermetic, esoteric, and Thelemic contexts.
Qaballah Preferred when referencing the English Qaballah.
qabalistic Lowercase unless beginning a sentence.
Ra-Hoor-Khuit Preferred Thelemic spelling; preserve alternate capitalizations when quoting.
Rider-Waite-Smith Preferred full attribution where the deck tradition is meant.
ritual Lowercase unless part of a formal title.
Scarlet Woman Capitalize as a title or formal Thelemic role.
Sephirah Singular.
Sephiroth Plural.
servitor Preferred for a constructed magical entity in chaos magic and related contexts.
sigil Standard spelling.
tarot Lowercase generally; capitalize only in titles or specific deck names.
The Book of the Law Capitalize title; italicize in formal publication style. Do not italicize The or the.
Thelema Capitalize when referring to the religious, philosophical, magical, or cultural current.
Thelemic Standard adjective.
Thelemically Acceptable, though use sparingly.
Thelemite Standard noun for an adherent of Thelema.
Tree of Life Capitalize as a technical esoteric diagram or concept.
True Will Capitalize as a technical Thelemic concept.

II. Contextual Spellings and Usage Distinctions

These terms depend on tradition, discipline, or context. Editors should preserve meaningful distinctions rather than forcing one spelling across all cases.

Term or distinction

Preferred usage
Aeon / eon Use Aeon in Thelemic, Gnostic, and esoteric contexts. Use eon for general geological or ordinary time periods.
Babalon / Babylon Use Babalon for the Thelemic goddess, archetype, or magical formula.
Use Babylon for the biblical or historical city.
beast / The Beast Capitalize and always include The when referring to The Beast as title, office, or archetype.
ceremonial magic / ceremonial magick Use ceremonial magic in general academic prose.
Use ceremonial magick when emphasizing Thelemic, occult, or insider terminology.
daimon / daemon / demon Use daimon for classical, Platonic, or intermediary spirit contexts.
Use daemon only when a source, system, or author specifically prefers it.
Use demon for Christian, popular, or explicitly demonic contexts.
eschatology / apocalypse Use eschatology for ultimate ends, final destiny, last things, or consummation.
Use apocalypse for revelation, unveiling, or apocalyptic literary forms; do not use it merely as a synonym for catastrophe.
esoteric Lowercase generally unless part of a formal title or name.
exegesis / hermeneutics Use exegesis for critical interpretation of a specific text.
Use hermeneutics for the theory, method, or philosophy of interpretation.
genius / Genius Use lowercase for ordinary brilliance. In older magical, philosophical, or astrological contexts, genius may refer to an indwelling spirit, tutelary intelligence, or guiding daimon. Capitalize only where the source or system requires it.
Gnostic / gnostic Capitalize when referring to historical Gnostic groups, texts, or systems. Lowercase when used broadly or descriptively.
Gnosticism / gnosticism Capitalize when referring to historical or religious Gnostic traditions. Lowercase only when used broadly for interior knowing or gnosis-oriented spirituality.
Hermeticism / hermeticism Capitalize when referring to the historical, philosophical, religious, or esoteric tradition. Lowercase only in a loose adjectival sense, and usually avoid it as a noun.
hermetic / Hermetic Use hermetic for sealed, hidden, or broadly esoteric usage.
Use Hermetic for Hermeticism, Hermetic texts, or the Hermetic tradition.
magical / magickal Use magical as the standard adjective.
Use magickal only when quoting, preserving authorial style, or referring to a system that strongly prefers it.
magic / magick Use magic for stage magic, fantasy magic, general academic use, or non-Thelemic contexts unless the author’s usage requires otherwise.
Use magick for ceremonial, ritual, or Thelemic practice.
Neoplatonism / neo-Platonism Use Neoplatonism and Neoplatonic as the preferred academic spellings.
occult / Occult Lowercase generally. Capitalize only in formal titles, names, or where part of a recognized proper noun.
orthodoxy / orthopraxy Use orthodoxy for right belief or doctrine.
Use orthopraxy for right practice or disciplined practice.
praxis / practice Use practice in ordinary prose.
Use praxis when emphasizing embodied, reflective, theory-informed action.
Qabalah / Qaballah / Kabbalah / Cabala Use Qabalah for Hermetic, esoteric, and Thelemic contexts.
Use Qabalah specifically for referring to the English Qaballah contexts.
Use Kabbalah for Jewish mystical contexts.
Use Cabala for Christian, Renaissance, or historically specific usage.
Sephiroth / sefirot Use Sephiroth in Hermetic or Thelemic contexts.
Use sefirot when writing specifically in Jewish studies contexts, depending on the source tradition and transliteration system.
soteriology / liberation Use soteriology when discussing doctrines or theories of salvation, liberation, awakening, or deliverance.
Use liberation when plain language is preferable.
syncretism / synthesis Use syncretism when traditions are blended or historically combined.
Use synthesis for a more deliberate intellectual or constructive integration.
tarot / Tarot Lowercase in general prose. Capitalize in formal deck names, titles, or traditional names such as Tarot de Marseille.
theurgy / thaumaturgy Use theurgy for divine work or ritual work oriented toward union with the divine.
Use thaumaturgy for wonder-working, practical magic, or miracle-working.
will / True Will Use will for ordinary volition or desire.
Use True Will for the technical Thelemic concept.
zodiac / Zodiac Lowercase generally unless part of a title or formal name.

III. Terms to Use with Caution

These terms are legitimate, but they can become vague, overused, misleading, or rhetorically inflated. Use them when they are precise; avoid them when they are merely decorative.

Term

Editorial caution
antinomian Use for principled rejection, suspension, or inversion of law or moral norm. Do not use merely to mean rebellious.
apocalyptic In theological or literary contexts, it often means revelatory or unveiling, not simply catastrophic.
archetype Use carefully, especially when Jungian meaning is intended. Avoid using it merely to mean “symbol,” “type,” or “trope.”
chthonic Use for underworld, subterranean, telluric, or earth-associated powers. Do not use as a general synonym for “dark.”
cult Avoid unless using in a technical historical sense, as in “cultus,” “cultic practice,” or “the cult of a deity.” In modern prose, the word carries strong pejorative implications.
daimonic Use when a classical, Platonic, Hillmanian, or intermediary-spirit context is intended. Avoid as a more exotic substitute for “demonic.”
ego Clarify whether the term is Freudian, Jungian, Buddhist, popular-psychological, or colloquial.
energetic Use only if the system being discussed has a clear theory of subtle energy, force, vitality, or transmission. Otherwise, it can sound vague.
eschatological Use when speaking of last things, final purposes, consummation, destiny, or ultimate horizons. Avoid as a fancy synonym for “future.”
esoteric Use when referring to hidden, inner, initiatory, or restricted knowledge. Avoid when “obscure” or “specialized” would be clearer.
frequency Use cautiously in spiritual prose unless referring to sound, physics, or a system that explicitly uses the term. Often imprecise.
gnosis Use for direct spiritual knowing, revelatory insight, or Gnostic contexts. Avoid as a vague synonym for “knowledge.”
heresy Use carefully outside ecclesial or doctrinal contexts. In Thelemic prose, clarify whether the term is literal, metaphorical, or polemical.
initiatory Use when a process genuinely concerns initiation, ordeal, transformation, or formal passage. Avoid for any ordinary learning experience.
liminal Useful for threshold states, rites of passage, and transitional conditions. Avoid as a general synonym for “strange” or “mysterious.”
magical Legitimate, but often imprecise. When possible, specify ritual, talismanic, divinatory, initiatory, theurgic, or thaumaturgic.
mystical Use for union, direct apprehension, contemplative experience, or mystical theology. Avoid as a generic adjective for anything occult or atmospheric.
mythic Useful when referring to symbolic, narrative, or sacred patterning. Avoid when it simply means “false” unless that contrast is explicit.
numinous Use for experiences marked by sacred awe, dread, fascination, or spiritual gravity. Do not use merely to mean “beautiful” or “mystical.”
occult Use descriptively, not as a vague intensifier. In academic prose, specify whether the context is occultism, esotericism, magic, ritual, initiatory orders, or hidden knowledge.
orthodox Use with care in Thelemic contexts, where formal orthodoxy may be contested or inappropriate.
philosophy Useful, but do not use it to domesticate or sanitize explicitly religious, magical, ritual, or devotional material.
psychology Use carefully when interpreting occult material. Avoid reducing religious, magical, or symbolic claims to “just psychology” unless that reduction is the argument.
psyche Useful, but broad. Specify whether referring to mind, soul, personality, unconscious life, or interior experience.
religion Use confidently where appropriate, but recognize that some readers may resist the term. Context should clarify whether it means institution, worldview, practice, theology, or lived tradition.
shadow Use carefully. It may refer to Jungian psychology, moral darkness, hidden material, trauma, or literary atmosphere. Clarify the intended meaning.
spiritual Often too broad. Specify whether the context is devotional, ritual, contemplative, ethical, theological, psychological, or communal.
symbolic Use when the symbolic function is being analyzed. Avoid as filler for anything nonliteral.
theology Use when discourse concerns deity, ultimate reality, sacred law, revelation, religious anthropology, or divine-human relation. Do not restrict it only to Christian contexts.
transgressive Use when a boundary, norm, taboo, or social order is actually being crossed. Avoid as a generic synonym for edgy.
trauma Do not use loosely as a synonym for discomfort, difficulty, or offense. Use with clinical and ethical care.