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One cannot but help to encounter the phrase '93' when traveling Thelemic circles. One of the first questions many beginning Thelemites and non-Thelemites ask is "whyfore this '93'"? Contrary to some, we are not dating all of our messages for 1993 (this was actually accused of me). What we are doing is indulging in a bit of shorthand. Before we can get too deep into the meaning of the phrase '93', we must first discuss some of the basics of Thelema.
In 1904, Aleister Crowley received a document he would come to call Liber AL vel Legis. This document, more commonly known as The Book of the Law, is purported to have been dictated to Aleister via an entity known as Aiwaz (or Aiwass), whose name enumerates to 93. Further, the prime message of Aiwaz is summed up in the Greek word Thelema, which means Will, which also enumerates (in Greek) to 93. The philosophy of Thelema supercedes and incorporates the Philosophy of the previous Æon (or Age), that being summed up in the word Agape, which means Love.
Aleister Crowley, acting in his capacity as the Prophet To Mega Therion (The Great Beast), selected three verses as a summation of the principle of Thelema, those being:
"Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law" ? AL I:40
"Love is the law, love under will" ? AL I:57
"There is no law beyond Do what thou wilt" ? AL III:60
Further, The Book of the Law enjoins us to spread Thelema
to every person we meet (III:39):
All this and a book to say how thou didst come hither and a reproduction of this ink and paper for ever -- for in it is the word secret & not only in the English -- and thy comment upon this the Book of the Law shall be printed beautifully in red ink and black upon beautiful paper made by hand; and to each man and woman that thou meetest, were it but to dine or to drink at them, it is the Law to give. Then they shall chance to abide in this bliss or no; it is no odds. Do this quickly! (emphasis added)
This injunction has been interpreted to mean that Thelemites should begin and end their conversations with a relevant quote from Liber AL vel legis. Typically, this manifests as using verse I:40, "Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law," to open and verse I:57, "Love is the law, love under will," to close.
Since Will means Thelema and Thelema equals 93, Will thus equals 93. Likewise, Love means Agape which equals 93, thus Love equals 93. By simple reduction, we condense the phrase "Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law" into its essence, namely "Will" which can then be replaced with the number "93." This reduction/substitution can also be applied to the phrase "Love is the law, love under will" into "Love Love under Will" or "Love Will/Love" and then into "93 93/93," which is what one commonly sees on email. Verbally, the three 93's are combined into one.
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We've all been asked sometime or another "Why do you put 93 at the beginning & end of your emails?" Well, those of us who correspond on elists a lot. I got so tired of answering the question that I put together this little essay.