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The Joy of Dissolution: Thelema, True Self, and the Ego Illusion

Original price was: $49.00.Current price is: $41.65.

New softcover edition available for pre-order (arrives in December 2026) 15% off through November 5:

 

The Joy of Dissolution: Thelema, True Self, and the Ego Illusion by J. Edward Cornelius, Christopher Reed Johnson, and Erica Johnson (aka Erica M Cornelius) ~with a foreword by Don Webb~ Secure your copy today.

 

There are so many Thelemic books out there for beginners. At last, here’s one for advanced practitioners—and those who want to understand the Path.

Call it the “feminine formula”, the “path of return”, or “ego dissolution”—if you go far enough in Thelema, you must surrender your “I”. And if you do Dare that passage—and survive with your sanity intact—you inhabit a realm of pure Love under will. Though strangely hard to notice at first, Aleister Crowley writes about little else.

From sexual alchemy to mysticism to Thelema’s surprisingly robust Buddhist roots, Christopher and Erica Johnson lay bare the Thelemic task of dissolving the imaginary “I”. The volume culminates in the late Magus J. Edward Cornelius’ final work, “I Do Not Exist”, in which he shares the secrets of the “second half of the equation”—the “N” formula of “ON”, never before revealed. Don’t miss this one.

Softcover. 6″ x 9″. 331 pages.

“The most important factor in [creating an unbroken flow of knowledge] is … the annihilation of the ego.”  – Aleister Crowley

 

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New softcover edition available for pre-order (arrives in December 2026) 15% off through November 5:

The Joy of Dissolution: Thelema, True Self, and the Ego Illusion by J. Edward Cornelius, Christopher Reed Johnson, and Erica Johnson (aka Erica M Cornelius) ~with a foreword by Don Webb~ Secure your copy today.

There are so many Thelemic books out there for beginners. At last, here’s one for advanced practitioners—and those who want to understand the Path.

Call it the “feminine formula”, the “path of return”, or “ego dissolution”—if you go far enough in Thelema, you must surrender your “I”. And if you do Dare that passage—and survive with your sanity intact—you inhabit a realm of pure Love under will. Though strangely hard to notice at first, Aleister Crowley writes about little else.

From sexual alchemy to mysticism to Thelema’s surprisingly robust Buddhist roots, Christopher and Erica Johnson lay bare the Thelemic task of dissolving the imaginary “I”. The volume culminates in the late Magus J. Edward Cornelius’ final work, “I Do Not Exist”, in which he shares the secrets of the “second half of the equation”—the “N” formula of “ON”, never before revealed. Don’t miss this one.

Softcover. 6″ x 9″. 331 pages.

“The most important factor in [creating an unbroken flow of knowledge] is … the annihilation of the ego.”  – Aleister Crowley

Readers’ Reviews:

 

“The sin which is unpardonable is knowingly and willfully to reject truth, to fear knowledge lest that knowledge pander not to thy prejudices.” – Liber Librae

 

The Joy of Dissolution represents yet another positive development in modern Thelemic literature from Cornelius Publications. As of 2025, there is no shortage of material rehashing the basics of Thelemic praxis. In my opinion, for the Aeon of Horus to continue to effectively shape the evolution of consciousness, what is needed is not another reprinting of the understandably important Liber O rituals, but well-written works such as this which detail advanced practices which have heretofore remained unnecessarily veiled in obscurity. Nevertheless, nothing here is handed to the aspirant who has not the eyes to see nor ears to hear.

 

I was immediately impressed by the depth of Christopher Reed Johnson’s an Erica Johnson’s essay On Alchemy and Ego Dissolution, which restores alchemy to it’s operative nature within the context of Thelema and the second major crisis of the magician; that of crossing the abyss. Alchemy is too often relegated to the domain of interesting psychological metaphor, which while being one valid level of analysis, neglects the historic practical nature of the Art. It is clear that the authors of this essay have a strong familiarity with alchemical source material and enliven it within the context of the Aeon of Horus.

 

The writings from J. Edward Cornelius specifically maintain his classic tone of “telling it how it is,” from his point of view, not unlike the archetype of the so-called “wrathful deity” in Buddhist traditions; enlightened ones who assume a fierce form to help sentient beings overcome obstacles. Love or hate his communication style, agree with him or disagree with him, a teacher’s duty is to challenge. Cornelius’ explanations of the formula of ON (and perhaps its inverse) remain influential to Thelemites abroad and open the door for many theoretical and practical explorations. This book also relates to themes explored in The Book of Archai, in particular some of the novel Gnostic cosmological threads found in the magickal universe of J. Edward Cornelius’ journals which deserve operative implementation and further research.

 

If one is truly pursuing the Great Work in earnest, they must not only pursue their immediate grade tasks, they must also remain mindful of the culmination of the path; annihilation. This book provides sustenance for that journey. The reader may not agree with every idea presented in this work. That is not the point, and one is subsequently referred back to the quote at the beginning of this review. In either case, ideas and concepts cannot traverse the abyss. Even so, our best ideas operate as scaffolding for the means of our ascent; which while not True in an ultimate sense, serve as our vehicle until they are no longer needed. This is the importance of recognizing Thelema as a living tradition that must not remain stagnant, and I feel that this work is a worthy submission reflecting the following:

 

“How right this is, that the Quintessence should be dynamic and not static! For if there were some form of Being separate from Going, it would necessarily be subject to decay; and, in any case, a thing impossible to apprehend, since apprehension is itself an Act, not an idea immobile which would be bound to change in the very moment of grasping it.” – Magick Without Tears

 

–Frater ORAH, Cleveland, Ohio

***

I know “Joy of Dissolution” is from a quote in and of itself, but after time with that book I can’t help but phoneticize / mnemonitize it down to “The Joy of Disillusion”, as it really seeks to shatter some of the worst illusions of the ego that plague us. Like the very separation of consciousness itself as an illusion, that is one of the parts that again, closing the book “I” ask “myself”, “how is this book even “real”?”

 

The only other book I closed with that same impression was the Kenneth Grant’s book The Feet of the Guru. Except the lesson from Grant’s book was essentially, if something isn’t trying to teach you about who or what you really are and here to do beneath the “I”, beneath the Ego, beneath the nonsense of signifiers and symbols, it probably is no supreme truth, and you can dissolve all questions revolving around those matters passing themselves off as highly esteemed questions with just the one question, “who am I?”. The Joy of Dissolution really continues that question for me, as I is nothing at all, so who you are really turns into a becoming or self-fulfilling of your will.

 

In that light, I appreciated being introduced through the Joy of Dissolution to Vipassana, a technique I have found effective for becoming aware of how the illusion of “I” is created and destroyed. I also liked the chapter on alchemy. A highlight was Jerry Cornelius’ “I Do Not Exist.” Since I found all the writings stemming from him and the A.’.A.’., there’s honestly nothing else I like to read more now.

 

The experience of reading Joy is more than words in a book. The books you guys publish are the books I got initiated to understand and read, like what is on the contents of those pages to me represents what I train and study and seek to understand better.

 

–P. from Las Vegas, Nevada

Additional information

Weight 1 lbs
Quality

Perfect, Slightly Damaged

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