Aleister Crowley. The Nature of the Beast. Colin Wilson. Thelema. Occult. Magick

Aleister Crowley. The Nature of the Beast. Colin Wilson. Thelema. Occult. Magick

I found a copy of "Aleister Crowley: The Nature of the Beast" by Colin Wilson in a used bookstore. So far, so good.



Poet, Magician, Mountaineer, Polemicist and Pornographer, Aleister Crowley was the most famous, or infamous, name in twentieth century occultism. With his usual flair and style, Colin Wilson brings this complex and enigmatic figure to life and provides an engrossing portrait of the self-styled Great Beast, the man whom the contemporary press dubbed "The Wickedest Man in the World".

The popular image of him as, in the words of Francis King, 'an insatiable sexual athlete, a pimp who lived on the immoral earnings of his girl-friends, and a junkie who daily took enough heroin to kill a roomful of people', has a basis in fact; but there were other, less obnoxious and despicable, aspects of this highly original character. Crowley's greatest legacy is his eclectic occult system: his Magick persists, a potent synthesis of Golden Dawn magic, oriental esoteric techniques, sexual magic, and the all-encompassing Law of Thelema with its two fundamental principles, 'Every man and woman is a star' and the notorious 'Do What Thou Wilt Shall Be the Whole of the Law'.

 

 

Jeanne Robert Foster. Poet, Model, Actress and Occultist. Scarlet Woman. by Travis Simpkins

Jeanne Robert Foster. Poet, Model, Actress and Occultist. Scarlet Woman. by Travis Simpkins

Portrait Sketch of

Jeanne Robert Foster

(1879 - 1970)

Poet of the Adirondacks

Journalist, Actress and Fashion Model

Theosophist and Occultist

Scarlet Woman of Aleister Crowley

Her Magical Name was "Hilarion"

by Travis Simpkins

Jeanne Robert Foster and John Butler Yeats

For more info, please visit:

union.edu/jeanne-robert-foster-papers

Jeanne Robert Foster. Poet, Model, Actress and Occultist. Scarlet Woman. by Travis Simpkins

 

Leila Waddell. Violinist and Occultist. Scarlet Woman. Magick. Thelema. by Travis Simpkins

Leila Waddell. Violinist. Occultist. Scarlet Woman. Aleister Crowley. Magick. Thelema. by Travis Simpkins

Portrait Sketch of

Leila Waddell

Laylah

Leila Ida Bathurst Waddell

(1880 - 1932)

Violinist and Occultist 

Influential Figure in Magick and Thelema

Scarlet Woman of Aleister Crowley

Immortalized in the Book of Lies

Performer/Muse of the Rites of Eleusis

by Travis Simpkins

Leila Waddell

The Rites of Eleusis. Aleister Crowley and Leila Waddell. Occult. Magic. Thelema

For more info, please visit:

astrumargenteum.org/leila-waddell

Leila Waddell. Scarlet Woman. Aleister Crowley. Rites of Eleusis. Magick. Thelema. by Travis Simpkins

 

Leah Hirsig. Occultist. Scarlet Woman. Magick. Thelema. Leah Sublime. by Travis Simpkins

Leah Hirsig. Occultist. Scarlet Woman. Magick. Thelema. Aleister Crowley. Leah Sublime. by Travis Simpkins

Portrait Sketch of

Leah Hirsig

(1883 - 1975)

Occultist and Artist

Soror Alostrael, Babalon

Scarlet Woman of Aleister Crowley

Inspiration for the poem "Leah Sublime"

Co-Founder of the Abbey of Thelema

Cefalu, Sicily

by Travis Simpkins

The Abbey of Thelema - Cefalu, Sicily

My Life in a Love Cult. Aleister Crowley. Leah Hirsig. Abbey of Thelema

For more info, please visit:

brill.com/journals

Leah Hirsig. Occultist. Scarlet Woman. Magick. Thelema. Aleister Crowley. Leah Sublime. by Travis Simpkins

The Secret Sexual Teachings of Aleister Crowley. Ordo Templi Orientis. Sex Magick. J. Edward Cornelius

The Secret Sexual Teachings of Aleister Crowley. Ordo Templi Orientis. Sex Magick. J. Edward Cornelius

 "The Secret Sexual Teachings of Aleister Crowley" by J. Edward Cornelius is one of the most interesting and unique texts I've read on the subject of Sex Magick and the IX° of Ordo Templi Orientis. 

From the Cornelius Publications website:

For the record, Grady Louis McMurtry (1918–1985) aka Frater Hymenaeus Alpha 777 Xth Degree OTO learned sex magick directly from Aleister Crowley, who acknowledged in his diary on December 22nd, 1944 that he taught Grady “more solid instruction in IX than I ever gave before to any one!” I was Grady’s personal student and I was lucky enough to be given personal insights into these teachings since the late 1970s, seeing that I was an Upper Degree in both OTO and A⸫A⸫. However, I’ve kept quiet about these “secrets” for the last forty-five years, but thanks to recent developments in the world of magick, I figured it is important to write this information down before it becomes lost in the quagmire of a modern “believe-whatever-you-want” world. This book contains what I learned about the sexual secrets found with the OTO, and I guarantee it’s NOTHING like what you’d expect or what other books are saying. Some of you might argue that it is blasphemous to reveal these mysteries, but Crowley has stated that one of the reforms which he introduced to the world “was the abolition of all obligations of secrecy.” Adding, “They were never useful except as temptations to people to break them. The secret knowledge has quite adequate warders. I have learnt that I have only to tell the truth about almost anything to be set down at once as a liar. It is far better to throw dust in the eyes of the animals whose faces are turned to the ground, by casual frankness. If you have a secret, it is always dangerous to let people suspect that you have something to hide.” If you’ve liked the clarity with which I’ve written on other Crowleyan subjects, this book will definitely shock you!

The book can be purchased here:

corneliuspublications.com/product/secret-sexual-teachings-of-aleister-crowley/

Leah Hirsig. Occultist. Scarlet Woman. Magick. Thelema. Leah Sublime. by Travis Simpkins

Leah Hirsig. Occultist. Scarlet Woman. Magick. Thelema. Aleister Crowley. Leah Sublime. by Travis Simpkins

Portrait Sketch of

Leah Hirsig

(1883 - 1975)

Occultist and Artist

Soror Alostrael, Babalon

Scarlet Woman of Aleister Crowley

Inspiration for the poem "Leah Sublime"

Co-Founder of the Abbey of Thelema

Cefalu, Sicily

by Travis Simpkins

The Abbey of Thelema - Cefalu, Sicily

My Life in a Love Cult. Aleister Crowley. Leah Hirsig. Abbey of Thelema

For more info, please visit:

brill.com/journals

Leah Hirsig. Occultist. Scarlet Woman. Magick. Thelema. Aleister Crowley. Leah Sublime. by Travis Simpkins

Aleister Crowley. Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. Ordo Templi Orientis. OTO. Magick. Thelema. by Travis Simpkins

Aleister Crowley. Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. Ordo Templi Orientis. OTO. Magick. Thelema. by Travis Simpkins

Portrait Sketch of

Aleister Crowley

born Edward Alexander Crowley

( 1875 - 1947 )

Occultist, Ceremonial Magician, Artist

& Author of Magick and The Book of the Law

Founder of Thelema

called "The Wickedest Man in the World"

Member of

The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn

and

Ordo Templi Orientis ( O.T.O. )

by Travis Simpkins

 Aleister Crowley - The Great Beast

Ozzy Osbourne - Mr. Crowley

 For more info, please visit:

oto-usa.org

Aleister Crowley. Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. OTO. Magick. Book 4. Thelema. by Travis Simpkins

Aleister Crowley. Magick. Thelema. Ordo Templi Orientis. OTO. Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. by Travis Simpkins

Aleister Crowley. Magick. Thelema. Ordo Templi Orientis. OTO. Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. by Travis Simpkins

Portrait Sketch of

Aleister Crowley

born Edward Alexander Crowley

( 1875 - 1947 )

Occultist, Ceremonial Magician, Poet

& Author of Magick and The Book of the Law

Founder of Thelema

called "The Wickedest Man in the World"

Member of

The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn

and

Ordo Templi Orientis ( O.T.O. )

by Travis Simpkins

The Life of Aleister Crowley - Da'at Darling - Georgina Rose

Mr. Crowley - Ozzy Osbourne

For more info, please visit:

oto-usa.org

Aleister Crowley. Magick. Thelema. Ordo Templi Orientis. 777 and Other Qabalistic Writings. by Travis Simpkins

Jeanne Robert Foster. Poet, Model, Actress and Occultist. Scarlet Woman. by Travis Simpkins

Jeanne Robert Foster. Poet, Model, Actress and Occultist. Scarlet Woman. by Travis Simpkins

Portrait Sketch of

Jeanne Robert Foster

(1879 - 1970)

Poet of the Adirondacks

Journalist, Actress and Fashion Model

Theosophist and Occultist

Scarlet Woman of Aleister Crowley

Her Magical Name was "Hilarion"

by Travis Simpkins

Jeanne Robert Foster and John Butler Yeats

For more info, please visit:

union.edu/jeanne-robert-foster-papers

Jeanne Robert Foster. Poet, Model, Actress and Occultist. Scarlet Woman. by Travis Simpkins

 

Leila Waddell. Violinist and Occultist. Scarlet Woman. Magick. Thelema. by Travis Simpkins

Leila Waddell. Violinist. Occultist. Scarlet Woman. Aleister Crowley. Magick. Thelema. by Travis Simpkins

Portrait Sketch of

Leila Waddell

Laylah

Leila Ida Bathurst Waddell

(1880 - 1932)

Violinist and Occultist 

Influential Figure in Magick and Thelema

Scarlet Woman of Aleister Crowley

Immortalized in the Book of Lies

Performer/Muse of the Rites of Eleusis

by Travis Simpkins

Leila Waddell

The Rites of Eleusis. Aleister Crowley and Leila Waddell. Occult. Magic. Thelema

For more info, please visit:

astrumargenteum.org/leila-waddell

Leila Waddell. Scarlet Woman. Aleister Crowley. Rites of Eleusis. Magick. Thelema. by Travis Simpkins

 

Leah Hirsig. Occultist. Scarlet Woman. Magick. Thelema. Leah Sublime. by Travis Simpkins

Leah Hirsig. Occultist. Scarlet Woman. Magick. Thelema. Aleister Crowley. Leah Sublime. by Travis Simpkins

Portrait Sketch of

Leah Hirsig

(1883 - 1975)

Occultist and Artist

Soror Alostrael, Babalon

Scarlet Woman of Aleister Crowley

Inspiration for the poem "Leah Sublime"

Co-Founder of the Abbey of Thelema

Cefalu, Sicily

by Travis Simpkins

The Abbey of Thelema - Cefalu, Sicily

My Life in a Love Cult. Aleister Crowley. Leah Hirsig. Abbey of Thelema

For more info, please visit:

brill.com/journals

Leah Hirsig. Occultist. Scarlet Woman. Magick. Thelema. Aleister Crowley. Leah Sublime. by Travis Simpkins

The Sword of Song. Aleister Crowley. Edited by Richard Kaczynski

The Sword of Song. Aleister Crowley. Edited by Richard Kaczynski

Several months ago, I was fortunate enough to aquire one of the limited release copies of "The Sword of Song" by Aleister Crowley (edited by Richard Kaczynski). I looked through most of it at the time, but decided to pick it up again for a cover to cover read. Originally published in 1904, this is a pivotal early work by Crowley. 



The Sword of Song (1904) is the most important of Aleister Crowley’s early works. His first talismanic book, it synthesized his interests in poetry, religion, mysticism and magick into a work that is at turns witty, profound and baffling. It would serve as the template to his celebrated Konx Om Pax (1907), and his unsurpassed mix of profundity and absurdity in The Book of Lies (1912/3). Significantly, it also offers insight into his mindset around the time of his received text, The Book of the Law, in 1904.

This edition follows the layout of The Sword of Song’s rare first edition, while incorporating subsequent revisions and additions from its republication in volume 2 of Crowley’s Collected Works (1906). The introduction by Crowley biographer Richard Kaczynski’s documents this book’s genesis and extensive revisions, while editorial footnotes illuminate obscure references, kabbalistic riddles, altered or deleted passages, and much more.


From the introduction
Crowley arrived in Ceylon armed with a library of books printed on India paper and custom-bound with silk ties to help withstand the elements. Among these were works by Robert Browning (1812–1889). The Victorian poet loomed large in Crowley’s thinking about the craft of poetry, as revealed by his letters from this period. Responding to a critique of Browning by his friend, painter Gerald Kelly (1879–1972), Crowley wrote, [E]very body knows that I live with R[obert] B[rowning]. I do not find a “pungent weight of thought in each sentence” of R.B.’s, not in his best lines, except perhaps the very best. You get this concentrated thought by dropping out articles, auxiliary verbs and such trifles: “why cumber they the ground?” e.g., “Aischulos’ bronze-throat eagle-bark at blood.” This is very fine.
But I find generally he is too diffuse as to his central meaning—too thin—“diluted presentation” a scientist would say: but too concentrated on his own parentheses. And above all you must read him again and again. You know I cannot read Sordello: when I know from a history-book all his characters I shall become able to, perhaps. With Fifine also, the mental strain is too great: though each paragraph is superb, I cannot read straight through. When I have worked at Fifine in detail till each detail gets familiar, then only shall I for the first time read that poem. Read with a big R.
Within a month of finishing “Ascension Day” and “Pentecost,” Crowley wrote to Kelly,
You know my idea that all poetry should suggest its subject by its sound, as music does. Perhaps Wagner’s leit-motif is even more allowable in poetry. Rosetti utterly misunderstood the refrain and destroyed its use. See Browning, “Sucked along in the flying wake / Of the luminous water-snake” in Xmas Eve; Pippa’s appearances (the use of lyric rather) in that play; the word “Porphyria” in “P[orphyria]’s Lover” thrice used. And look how Aeschylus will harp on μεγας, μελας, τελος, βροντος, θανατος and such words using them in this very leitmotif way—that very repetition which the ordinary fool tells you to avoid. Many other examples will occur to you.
Crowley would employ this technique in Sword of Song. Seizing upon a statement in Mansel’s Encyclopædia Britannica article on metaphysics—
If, in any mode of consciousness whatever, an external object is directly presented as existing in relation to me, that object, though composed of sensible qualities only, is given as a material substance, existing as a distinct reality, and not merely as a mode of my own mind

—Crowley echoed “a mode of my own mind” as a refrain throughout “Pentecost” (cf. lines 370, 545, 644, 780, 812). Also, Crowley’s words

Aum! let us meditate aright
On that adorable One Light,
Divine Savitri! So may She
Illume our minds! So mote it be!

form lines 519–522 of “Pentecost,” and repeat at the end of the poem.


From “Ascension Day,” lines 98-111:

Yet by-and-by I hope to weave
A song of Anti-Christmas Eve
And First- and Second-Beast-er Day.
There’s one who loves me dearly (vrai!)
Who yet believes me sprung from Tophet,
Either the Beast or the False Prophet;
And by all sorts of monkey tricks
Adds up my name to Six Six Six.
Retire, good Gallup! In such strife her
Superior skill makes you a cipher!
Ho! I adopt the number. Look
At the quaint wrapper of this book!
I will deserve it if I can:
It is the number of a Man.

Leila Waddell. Violinist and Occultist. Scarlet Woman. Magick. Thelema. by Travis Simpkins

Leila Waddell. Violinist. Occultist. Scarlet Woman. Aleister Crowley. Magick. Thelema. by Travis Simpkins

Portrait Sketch of

Leila Waddell

Laylah

Leila Ida Bathurst Waddell

(1880 - 1932)

Violinist and Occultist 

Influential Figure in Magick and Thelema

Scarlet Woman of Aleister Crowley

Immortalized in the Book of Lies

Performer/Muse of the Rites of Eleusis

by Travis Simpkins

Leila Waddell

The Rites of Eleusis. Aleister Crowley and Leila Waddell. Occult. Magic. Thelema

For more info, please visit:

astrumargenteum.org/leila-waddell

Leila Waddell. Scarlet Woman. Aleister Crowley. Rites of Eleusis. Magick. Thelema. by Travis Simpkins

 

Jeanne Robert Foster. Poet, Model, Actress and Occultist. Scarlet Woman. by Travis Simpkins

Jeanne Robert Foster. Poet, Model, Actress and Occultist. Scarlet Woman. by Travis Simpkins

Portrait Sketch of

Jeanne Robert Foster

(1879 - 1970)

Poet of the Adirondacks

Journalist, Actress and Fashion Model

Theosophist and Occultist

Scarlet Woman of Aleister Crowley

Her Magical Name was "Hilarion"

by Travis Simpkins

Jeanne Robert Foster and John Butler Yeats

For more info, please visit:

union.edu/jeanne-robert-foster-papers

Jeanne Robert Foster. Poet, Model, Actress and Occultist. Scarlet Woman. by Travis Simpkins

 

Aleister Crowley. Magick. Thelema. Ordo Templi Orientis. OTO. Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. by Travis Simpkins

Aleister Crowley. Magick. Thelema. Ordo Templi Orientis. OTO. Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. by Travis Simpkins

Portrait Sketch of

Aleister Crowley

born Edward Alexander Crowley

( 1875 - 1947 )

Occultist, Ceremonial Magician, Poet

& Author of Magick and The Book of the Law

Founder of Thelema

called "The Wickedest Man in the World"

Member of

The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn

and

Ordo Templi Orientis ( O.T.O. )

by Travis Simpkins

The Life of Aleister Crowley - Da'at Darling - Georgina Rose

Mr. Crowley - Ozzy Osbourne

For more info, please visit:

oto-usa.org

Aleister Crowley. Magick. Thelema. Ordo Templi Orientis. Moonchild. by Travis Simpkins

The Equinox. Volume 3, Number 10. Ordo Templi Orientis. OTO. Thelema. Grady McMurtry. Aleister Crowley

The Equinox. Volume 3, Number 10. Ordo Templi Orientis. OTO. Thelema. Grady McMurtry. Aleister Crowley

I'm enjoying The Equinox, Volume 3, Number 10


Along with his written works, Aleister Crowley's legacy includes the organization he is credited with founding, the OTO or Ordo Templi Orientis -- The Order of Oriental Templars. This book contains key introductory material to this contemporary occult society, along with a history of the Order after Crowley's death. The format of this edition matches that of the first Equinox series published with Crowley as editor and includes magical instruction, communications to OTO members (all the dirt on court cases the OTO has been involved in), and original works of fiction and poetry. As part of this latter category, this book features an illustrated study of the works of underground filmmaker Kenneth Anger with a complete filmography. It could be argued that Aleister Crowley (1875-1947) anticipated the entire New Age phenomenon with his methods of teaching, codified in the tenets of the OTO. A rich melange of ritual magic, traditional spiritual practice, drug use, and sex, borrowing from many different cultures and traditions, informed the development of this lasting magical system. Although he's been popularized (and demonized) as The Beast, 666, his teachings have shown lasting value.

Aleister Crowley. Magick. Thelema. Ordo Templi Orientis. OTO. Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. by Travis Simpkins

Aleister Crowley. Magick. Thelema. Ordo Templi Orientis. OTO. Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. by Travis Simpkins

Portrait Sketch of

Aleister Crowley

born Edward Alexander Crowley

( 1875 - 1947 )

Occultist, Ceremonial Magician, Poet

& Author of Magick and The Book of the Law

Founder of Thelema

called "The Wickedest Man in the World"

Member of

The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn

and

Ordo Templi Orientis ( O.T.O. )

by Travis Simpkins

The Life of Aleister Crowley - Da'at Darling - Georgina Rose

Mr. Crowley - Ozzy Osbourne

For more info, please visit:

oto-usa.org

Aleister Crowley. Magick. Thelema. Ordo Templi Orientis. Stele of Revealing. by Travis Simpkins

Aleister Crowley. Magick. Thelema. Ordo Templi Orientis. OTO. Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. by Travis Simpkins

Aleister Crowley. Magick. Thelema. Ordo Templi Orientis. OTO. Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. by Travis Simpkins

Portrait Sketch of

Aleister Crowley

born Edward Alexander Crowley

( 1875 - 1947 )

Occultist, Ceremonial Magician, Poet

& Author of Magick and The Book of the Law

Founder of Thelema

called "The Wickedest Man in the World"

Member of

The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn

and

Ordo Templi Orientis ( O.T.O. )

by Travis Simpkins

The Life of Aleister Crowley - Da'at Darling - Georgina Rose

Mr. Crowley - Ozzy Osbourne

For more info, please visit:

oto-usa.org

Aleister Crowley. Magick. Thelema. Ordo Templi Orientis. The Book of Lies. by Travis Simpkins