FAY CE QUE VOUDRASS
Do any research into Francis Dashwood's brotherhood and you will inevitably find the phrase "FAY CE QUE VOUDRASS", but what did it actually mean?
Francis Dashwood’s axiom for life was "FAY CE QUE VOUDRASS" translated from the Latin in the 18th century it it becomes “do what thou wilt”!
I like many people went straight to my online dictionary, typed in Fay Ce Que Voudrass and got various translations such as "Fay what will want" which is not what I expected.
The reason is, English grammar, sentence construction and spelling today has changed significantly since the eighteenth century.
To make sense of it, I have taken a sentence from a report written in the 18th century.
The church probably confiftcd of a body and two fide aifles and a chancel, and had a tower at the weft end. It fecms to have been a neat ftatcly building, well wrought with alLlcr work ; for the four pillars remaining are very handfomely wrought, and the windows are high and fpacious.
Witten today it would read:
The church was probably constructed of a body and two side aisles and a chancel, and had a tower at the left end. It seems to have been a neat stately building, well wrought with alter work ; for the four pillars remaining are very handsomely fashioned, and the windows are high and spacious.
The important thing to remember is, you cannot directly compare the 18th century and today.
I like many people went straight to my online dictionary, typed in Fay Ce Que Voudrass and got various translations such as "Fay what will want" which is not what I expected.
The reason is, English grammar, sentence construction and spelling today has changed significantly since the eighteenth century.
To make sense of it, I have taken a sentence from a report written in the 18th century.
The church probably confiftcd of a body and two fide aifles and a chancel, and had a tower at the weft end. It fecms to have been a neat ftatcly building, well wrought with alLlcr work ; for the four pillars remaining are very handfomely wrought, and the windows are high and fpacious.
Witten today it would read:
The church was probably constructed of a body and two side aisles and a chancel, and had a tower at the left end. It seems to have been a neat stately building, well wrought with alter work ; for the four pillars remaining are very handsomely fashioned, and the windows are high and spacious.
The important thing to remember is, you cannot directly compare the 18th century and today.
Francis Dashwood and his brotherhood lived by the phrase "FAY CE QUE VOUDRASS", “Do what thou wilt”
It was his belief that there was only one direction for life, to do what thou wanted. And this became the foundation for Francis Dashwood’s brotherhood, a society of free spirit, free thinking and a shared common views of humanity's ability to govern itself without an imposed body of law.
And for Francis Dashwood, this was the fundamental basis for the societies he formed.
The phrase “Do what thou wilt” is known as the Law of Thelema. It is derived from the rule of the fictional Abbey of Thélème in the classic satire Gargantua by the 16th century French priest and occult student François Rabelais.
This personal freedom defined that lives would be regulated not by laws, statutes or laws of the land, but according to free will and pleasure.
They rose, drank, ate, worked and slept when they wanted, with nobody to compel them to eat or to drink or to do anything unless they chose to.
It was his belief that there was only one direction for life, to do what thou wanted. And this became the foundation for Francis Dashwood’s brotherhood, a society of free spirit, free thinking and a shared common views of humanity's ability to govern itself without an imposed body of law.
And for Francis Dashwood, this was the fundamental basis for the societies he formed.
The phrase “Do what thou wilt” is known as the Law of Thelema. It is derived from the rule of the fictional Abbey of Thélème in the classic satire Gargantua by the 16th century French priest and occult student François Rabelais.
This personal freedom defined that lives would be regulated not by laws, statutes or laws of the land, but according to free will and pleasure.
They rose, drank, ate, worked and slept when they wanted, with nobody to compel them to eat or to drink or to do anything unless they chose to.
