What does this mean? Contrary to most idle interpretations the injunction to "Do what thou wilt" is anything but a license to behave however one pleases and indulge every passing whim. Rather, it is an instruction for each individual to discover and act out what adherents to this system refer to as their "True Will". This individual Will is considered by many to be analogous with that person's specific place in the universe, the role which only they can fulfil. Crowley went on to develop a huge number of exercises and magickal practices to aid the individual in accomplishing the discovery of their True Will, a process he referred to as "The Great Work" in accordance with prior manifestations of the Gnostic tradition.

A fundamental aspect of the concept of the Will as utilised by those who have accepted The Book of the Law is that every individual should be given the absolute and unconditional freedom to act according to their Will, and should thus be in a position take complete responsibility for their actions. A frequent reaction to this notion is to throw up the hands in horror and to say, "What? Does this mean that people would be free to rape, murder and steal?" The answer is, essentially, yes. If they were not then they would be unable to take full responsibility for their actions because they would be deprived of a full range of choice concerning what they did or did not do. It is only from a position of absolute freedom that one can enter into a meaningful contract with society, an organisation, or another person. Those who seem to think that humanity will run amok if it is given responsibility for itself are usually projecting their own fears on to others. The fact of the matter is that in modern society the threat of punishment is not sufficient to prevent people from committing acts of rape, murder and theft if they truly desire to do so, but the great majority of them do not.

The second statement of importance is "Love is the law, love under will". This is perhaps the most difficult to explain in simple terms. There are numerous different ways in which it can be understood, all of which are valid and in some way complementary to one another.