Aleister Crowley

[John Wilkes Harvey Oswald]

I'm reading his Book of Thoth right now.  Sometimes, he makes a lot of sense, when he's not talking about Thelema and instead about philosophy or mythology.  Do I just need to learn a bit more about the Kaballah?  Or is he truly as esoteric as it seems?

[archPope Rocket P Llama]

Teeheehee. Crowley was an evil evil sadistic wiseass. I am relatively sure he was onto a whole lot of something, but the problem is that he never could seem to bring himself to out and say something without hiding it under a pile of equally meaningful utter BS. He was mean to all of us. Evil, but at the same time you can't bring yourself to give up on him because he looks at us across the years with that dopey Egyptian hat saying Teeheehee. I know something you don't know fuckahs! Dharharhar!

SHUT UP ALEISTER! Just tell us man! Why must you hide everything?

BECAUSE! If he just came out and told you what he knew you wouldn't really grasp it as much. If you aren't sifting through his metaphysical hargon-jargon it would be less fun and just another cheap book on Wicca and/or magick. Have you read The Book of the Law yet? THAT is fun And Book of Lies to.

[Irreverend Hugh, KSC]

Crowley is basically taking you on a loopy loop trip to get you off the idea that magic is some esoteric froofy thing. It is direct experience and no one knows that better for yourself than you.

As for Crowley being evil and sadistic, I doubt it seriously and sillily. Many of his supposed thelemic students are, but they don't get the joke.

[Horab Fibslager]

Crowley is basically taking you on a loopy loop trip to get you off the idea that magic is some esoteric froofy thing. It is direct experience and no one knows that better for yourself than you.

As for Crowley being evil and sadistic, I doubt it seriously and sillily. Many of his supposed thelemic students are, but they don't get the joke.

aye, there a couple good parts in the book of breaks(lies), where he prettymuch says itstraight out, but, most people who are serious about magic don't get it.  

[Verthaine]

Crowley is basically taking you on a loopy loop trip to get you off the idea that magic is some esoteric froofy thing. It is direct experience and no one knows that better for yourself than you.

As for Crowley being evil and sadistic, I doubt it seriously and sillily. Many of his supposed thelemic students are, but they don't get the joke.

aye, there a couple good parts in the book of breaks(lies), where he prettymuch says itstraight out, but, most people who are serious about magic don't get it.  

Ahh,now theres the problem.Magick is something you should never be serious about  if you want to have any luck understanding  Magick.Thelamites can be as humourless( and assholes) as LaVeyite satanists.Both forget that Crowley was a nortorius practical joker,and LaVey(who I can't stand) was a carny, a grifter, and a pimp.

[Weselina]

Ahh,now theres the problem.Magick is something you should never be serious about  if you want to have any luck understanding  Magick.Thelamites can be as humourless( and assholes) as LaVeyite satanists.Both forget that Crowley was a nortorius practical joker,and LaVey(who I can't stand) was a carny, a grifter, and a pimp.

I agree. And what I hate most at LaVey is that he didn't discover anything new. He wrote of himself (for example in Satanic Witch) as some pope of black religion or something. What new did he bring into pholisophy or religion? Nothing... Just compilation of ideas such as Crowley's.

By the way I nominate "Satanic Witch" for the worst and most sensless book ever wrote...

[Irreverend Hugh, KSC]

Ahh,now theres the problem.Magick is something you should never be serious about  if you want to have any luck understanding  Magick.Thelamites can be as humourless( and assholes) as LaVeyite satanists.Both forget that Crowley was a nortorius practical joker,and LaVey(who I can't stand) was a carny, a grifter, and a pimp.

I agree. And what I hate most at LaVey is that he didn't discover anything new. He wrote of himself (for example in Satanic Witch) as some pope of black religion or something. What new did he bring into pholisophy or religion? Nothing... Just compilation of ideas such as Crowley's.

By the way I nominate "Satanic Witch" for the worst and most sensless book ever wrote...

True that. But there are some funny things he says in that book. Or maybe it's the Devil's Notebook. I can't tell his writings apart. LaVey wishes he could have been a Crowley.

[Trollax]

Crowley is basically taking you on a loopy loop trip to get you off the idea that magic is some esoteric froofy thing. It is direct experience and no one knows that better for yourself than you.

As for Crowley being evil and sadistic, I doubt it seriously and sillily. Many of his supposed thelemic students are, but they don't get the joke.

aye, there a couple good parts in the book of breaks(lies), where he prettymuch says itstraight out, but, most people who are serious about magic don't get it.  

Ahh,now theres the problem.Magick is something you should never be serious about  if you want to have any luck understanding  Magick.Thelamites can be as humourless( and assholes) as LaVeyite satanists.Both forget that Crowley was a nortorius practical joker,and LaVey(who I can't stand) was a carny, a grifter, and a pimp.

LaVey was like L Ron Hubbard, he wanted an army of followers to suck his dick with a minimum of effort.

[Irreverend Hugh, KSC]

Crowley is basically taking you on a loopy loop trip to get you off the idea that magic is some esoteric froofy thing. It is direct experience and no one knows that better for yourself than you.

As for Crowley being evil and sadistic, I doubt it seriously and sillily. Many of his supposed thelemic students are, but they don't get the joke.

aye, there a couple good parts in the book of breaks(lies), where he prettymuch says itstraight out, but, most people who are serious about magic don't get it.  

Ahh,now theres the problem.Magick is something you should never be serious about  if you want to have any luck understanding  Magick.Thelamites can be as humourless( and assholes) as LaVeyite satanists.Both forget that Crowley was a nortorius practical joker,and LaVey(who I can't stand) was a carny, a grifter, and a pimp.

LaVey was like L Ron Hubbard, he wanted an army of followers to suck his dick with a minimum of effort.

Yeah. But then he got tired of that shit. You should read some of his later writings about that.

[Weselina]

aaah, come on, let's finish with La Vey cause he's not even worth our effort...

Have you read Atlantis by Crowley? If not, you shoud really- no his philosophy, no thelema, just his view on mythology and origin of Lost Continent. Worth reading!

Ha! I'm proud of myself- I have been to London and I bought myself Book of Law with Crowley's manuscript. Now I can read pure original version

[Irreverend Hugh, KSC]

aaah, come on, let's finish with La Vey cause he's not even worth our effort...

Have you read Atlantis by Crowley? If not, you shoud really- no his philosophy, no thelema, just his view on mythology and origin of Lost Continent. Worth reading!

Ha! I'm proud of myself- I have been to London and I bought myself Book of Law with Crowley's manuscript. Now I can read pure original version

I agree with you on LaVey.

Crowley was much better. I like the Book of Lies, but I am currently pouring over the book of Thoth, and some of his other material. It reminds me of Tibetan Vajrayana actually.

[Das Raddiche]

Ive noticed most people who are too serious about anything never get the real meaning. least thats some of what i got from Breaks.

[sakredchao]

i don't think that learning kaballah will make much of his ramble-jamble make more sense.  but it's not a bad idea learning the kaballah, i think.

if you wanted a direction to go twards understanding crowley..  perhaps look into the golden dawn and oto..  perhaps some of their other authors are less obtuse.

kim

[Bebek Sincap Ratatosk]

Understanding Crowley is like understanding Eris. Smoke a lot of pot, drink some Auyahuasca, maybe a trip or two with Lucy and BAM! it will all make sense.

Crowley seemed to have figured out the basics of Magic, almost all of the Western Occult groups up to that point had figured out a metaphor that followed the ideas of magical work, with some success. Crowley, by trying every form of magic and esoteric idea he could get his hands own, eventually broke down most of the metaphoric walls surrounding what
people call magic.

Off of his work, people like Peter Carrol advanced (in Liber Null and Psychonaut) the ideas of Chaos Magic. In a nutshell:

Magic = Will + Altered State of Consciousness + Imagination

These are the things that Crowley truly focused on, his drug usage was specifically for consciousness alteration (and having fun), his sex magic was for consciousness alteration (and having fun), his meditations/yoga/High Ritual all placed him in an altered state of consciousness, in which, with the potencey of Will and the power of Imagination, created changes in reality, which of course, one might consider to be magic.

Read 23 Skidoo and think about what Crowley is telling Initiates.

[Dusio]

What I find funny is how any people take him for a prophet or a saint or something.Crowley promoted himself so well that everyone bought into his weird ass notions.But I do love his work because he's mindFucking you and because of the hype you try to add meaning to his none sense.