SafeTΩ and the Wickedest Man in the World. A Magickal Illusion.

By Simon Renatus

Aleister Crowley (1875-1947), poet, occultist, and, above all, self-aggrandising provocateur, was once dubbed ‘The Wickedest Man in the World’ by the British tabloid press. His philosophy, Thelema, revolved around intoxicating edicts, such as:

 Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law. (Crowley, 1904/2019, p. 4)

More than hedonism, this was an intricate system of esoteric hierarchy, initiation into myth and ritual, each step promising access to hidden knowledge. On the surface, Thelema appears radically egalitarian, a declaration of absolute freedom. Yet beneath the rhetoric lies a structured order of secrecy and control; true power is reserved for the initiated, and enlightenment remains always just beyond the reach of the initiate.

Contemporary Safety operates on the same principle. It claims to save lives, but does not alter risk; it promises control, yet delivers only compliance. It does not elevate the individual. The worker is not a person, an object of will and wisdom but a vessel for the doctrine. The rituals sustain belief, but never deliver transcendence.

Crowley was a master of self-mythology. His fingerprints are everywhere, from his face staring out from the cover of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, to the incantatory lyrics of Ozzy Osbourne’s Mr. Crowley. He understood something fundamental: humans crave belief, particularly in systems that claim to control the uncontrollable and make the uncertain, certain.

At the core of Crowley’s system was Magick, spelled deliberately with a K to distinguish it from stage illusion. This was no conjurer’s trick. No rabbit-from-a-hat deception. He described Magick as ‘…the science and art of causing change in conformity with will’ (Crowley, 1929, p. xvi), a structured system of symbols, rituals and invocations designed to bend reality itself to the adept’s desires. Whether the effects were real or self-delusional was irrelevant.  The act of belief made it real enough for the initiated.

And herein lies Crowley’s true genius; his understanding that; symbols, myth, and ritual, are not about reality, but about power and control. It is not only in occult circles that this pattern plays out. Modern institutions have their own symbols, doctrines, and rites, promising mastery over unseen unconscious forces. Nowhere is this more evident than in the High Order of Safety.

For the purposes of this paper, I will rename Safety as SafeTΩ, deliberately spelled with a TΩ to differentiate it from anything resembling a mature interaction with risk. Like Thelema, SafeTΩ cloaks itself in symbols, sacred texts, and rituals, offering not wisdom, but obedience. Its sacred geometry (the Heinrich Pyramid as the Eye of Horus), its arcane doctrines (Safe Work Method Statements as The Book of the Law), and its initiatory hierarchy (the 33rd Order SafeTΩ Magus) do not grant mastery over risk, only deeper submission to the system.

Where Crowley promised enlightenment through ritual, SafeTΩ offers transcendence through compliance. The rites must be performed. The invocations must be recited. Without belief, the illusion crumbles.

The Symbols of SafeTΩ and the Eye of Horus

Crowley was obsessed with semiotics; the power of symbols to shape reality (eg. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/777_and_Other_Qabalistic_Writings_of_Aleister_Crowley ). He adorned his philosophy with Egyptian esoterica: the Eye of Horus, the Pyramid, the Ankh. These weren’t just decorations, they were mechanisms of meaning making, reinforcing the belief that power could be harnessed through understanding arcane signs. SafeTΩ plays the same game.

Consider the Heinrich Pyramid; the omnipresent talisman of workplace Safety. Like the Eye of Horus, it claims to see all, revealing the hidden order of the universe. By recording every near miss, by charting the sacred ratios, one can glimpse the hidden truths of risk itself. Just like stars in alignment, those dominoes of Heinrich and Reason’s swiss-cheese manifest the miracle of linearity.

Of course, this is nonsense. The pyramid does not predict the future any more than Crowley’s Tarot cards. It is a totem, a conjuration, built on dubious methodology, it’s supposed insights never replicated. Yet as long as the adherents accept it, the illusion holds. As long as the worshipers praise the holes of Reason’s cheese, all elements of prophecy and control remain at hand.

SafeTΩ also employs numerology worthy of the Kabbalah (https://archive.org/details/mysteriesqabala00gewugoog). The sacred formula Risk = Likelihood x Consequence offers the promise of calculable certainty, a secret code to decipher the mysteries of workplace harm. But what number does one assign to human personhood? What is the numerological value of risk wisdom? The equation, like all esoteric formulae, operates as an aesthetic, not a discipline.

The SafeTΩ Book of the Law and the Great Revelation That Never Comes

Crowley’s Book of the Law was, according to him, dictated by the supernatural entity Aiwass in a feverish trance. It promised a new Aeon, a radical transformation of human consciousness, but only if the neophyte followed the prescribed rituals, deciphered the hidden meanings, and ascended through the ranks of initiation.

SafeTΩ has its own sacred texts, such as the Safe Work Method Statement (SWMS). This is not just a document; it is a ritual inscription. To the outsider, it appears as mundane paperwork, yet to the adept, it holds power, an invocation of safety that, once written, makes risk vanish.

What is more, risk cannot be deciphered by the workers, those who actually interact with it. Their lived experience is too crude, their instincts too impure to grasp the hidden arcana of SafeTΩ. Instead, enlightenment must be bestowed upon them through the sacred script of the SWMS itself. And once initiated into the mystery cult, these high priests of Safety are enabled to parade collections of meaningless postnominals after their names to indicate their membership to the cult. Each risk assessment is a ritual transcription, its power derived not from understanding, but from the act of completion. Once risk is inscribed, it is controlled and transcended.

If harm persists, the fault is never with the doctrine, it is with the inexpert; those who failed to perform the rituals correctly. The solution? We must go deeper. We must hold more meetings, conduct more investigations, ascend to Level 34 SafeTΩ Professional, where, surely, the final truth will be revealed. The result is not mastery over risk, but a self-referential cycle of compliance, where success is measured by adherence, not by any meaningful outcomes. SafeTΩ does not mitigate danger; it mystifies it, turning safety into a ceremonial act, where belief is mandatory, and questioning is a profane act. This is where all sacred knowledge is known and can only be verified by another high priest.

The SafeTΩ Induction and the Eternal Initiation

Ritual was Crowley’s great tool of control. The adept was not simply taught Thelema; they were inducted through sacred rites, incantations, and elaborate ceremonies. To reach enlightenment, they had to submit to an endless process. SafeTΩ operates in precisely the same manner.

Every worker undergoes the SafeTΩ Induction, a modern-day initiation into the Order. They are shown the totemic artifacts (the Heinrich Pyramid, Swiss-Cheese), presented with the sacred texts (the Safe Work Method Statement), and made to recite the invocations (“All accidents are preventable” and “safety is a choice you make”).

In time, they will learn the great truth: there is no end to the initiation. They soon discover the sacred preaching in the temple of self-worship, Linkedin, where fellow worshippers praise and invoke ego driven incantations to the divine that “saves lives”.

Crowley’s initiates never reached the final stage of enlightenment, because the final stage did not exist. The same is true for SafeTΩ. There will always be another refresher course. Another procedural update. Another risk assessment. There will always be a Level 35 SafeTΩ “Professional”, followed by Level 36, and then another beyond that, always just out of reach. The goal is not knowledge, not to embrace human agency, nor professional ethic, but submission.

Conclusion: The Great Work Undone. Illusion into Delusion

SafeTΩ presents itself as a path to mastery over risk, an ascension toward its own esoteric enlightenment, where each step leads toward the ultimate transcendence of Zero Harm. But it is not a path. It is not ascension. It is a labyrinth.

And so, the symbols are worshipped. The myths persist. The rituals continue.

But unlike Crowley, who knowingly crafted his labyrinth for his own debauched ends, SafeTΩ’s illusion has become a self-perpetuating cycle; one that believes itself to be moral, virtuous, beyond reproach and the only source of truth. It does not deceive knowingly; it is entranced by its own doctrine. There is no Master Therion behind the curtain, only the system itself, endlessly feeding upon belief. SafeTΩ does not require a mastermind; it simply demands that its practitioners maintain the spell.

It does not eliminate risk. It eliminates critical thinking. It does not make work safer. It makes workers compliant. The doctrine is infallible; only the followers fail. When harm occurs, the answer is never less SafeTΩ, only more: more training, more sacred texts to interpret, more initiations to endure.

Just as no Thelemite ever became a god, no SafeTΩ initiate ever reaches Zero Harm, yet the faithful will keep yearning, worshipping and performing.

At some point, the adept must ask: When does illusion become delusion? And if enlightenment never arrives, if Zero remains forever out of reach, why keep climbing the sacred  orders?

SafeTΩ will never answer. The doctrine demands belief, not inquiry.

And like all Magick, it only works as long as the audience keeps believing.

Sources

Crowley, A. (1904/2019). The book of the law. Vega Publishing.

Crowley, A. (1929). Magick in theory and practice. Lecram Press.