Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law
May 22, 2015 3:55 PM Subscribe
Don't give us no sass or we'll kick your ass
'Cause we're the heralds of Crowleymass!
posted by Trinity-Gehenna at 4:19 PM on May 22, 2015 [3 favorites]
'Cause we're the heralds of Crowleymass!
posted by Trinity-Gehenna at 4:19 PM on May 22, 2015 [3 favorites]
In atonement for my previous comment, here's cat yronwode's substantial archive of Crowley's writings from luckymojo.com. There's a whole lot to dig through there.
Thanx for the post, feafulsymmetry. TBH though, I never really got what A.C. was on about, The Lesser Book of the Vishanti being more in line with my interests.
posted by Trinity-Gehenna at 4:37 PM on May 22, 2015 [3 favorites]
Thanx for the post, feafulsymmetry. TBH though, I never really got what A.C. was on about, The Lesser Book of the Vishanti being more in line with my interests.
posted by Trinity-Gehenna at 4:37 PM on May 22, 2015 [3 favorites]
"every man and woman is a star"
everybody is a star
and the listverse link talks about jack parsons and l ron hubbard, who were pretty close to robert heinlien - stranger in a strange land actually seems to be a novel about crowley's themela
crowley's influcence on our culture goes a lot deeper than people realize
posted by pyramid termite at 5:03 PM on May 22, 2015 [11 favorites]
everybody is a star
and the listverse link talks about jack parsons and l ron hubbard, who were pretty close to robert heinlien - stranger in a strange land actually seems to be a novel about crowley's themela
crowley's influcence on our culture goes a lot deeper than people realize
posted by pyramid termite at 5:03 PM on May 22, 2015 [11 favorites]
Needs more Dragon pants.
posted by clavdivs at 5:11 PM on May 22, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by clavdivs at 5:11 PM on May 22, 2015 [3 favorites]
If memory serves, his Simon Iff stories are amusing. Some are listed on catherine yronwode's site above; the others are online if you google for them.
posted by wittgenstein at 5:16 PM on May 22, 2015
posted by wittgenstein at 5:16 PM on May 22, 2015
The worst tarot card set ever. Well, ok, better than mystical wise womyn cat tarot. But just barely.
posted by clvrmnky at 5:19 PM on May 22, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by clvrmnky at 5:19 PM on May 22, 2015 [3 favorites]
Donald Rumsfeld needs to make a tarot deck to be in the running for most wicked man.
posted by benzenedream at 5:27 PM on May 22, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by benzenedream at 5:27 PM on May 22, 2015 [1 favorite]
Somebody really needs to make a cheesy occult-themed horror movie about his K2 attempt. The reality was probably not much different than other major peak expeditions of the time, but this photo just cracks me up.
posted by queensissy at 5:30 PM on May 22, 2015 [10 favorites]
posted by queensissy at 5:30 PM on May 22, 2015 [10 favorites]
I have mixed feelings about Alesister Crowley, but I know 1) Crowley's a pretty decent guy for a demon and 2) Everybody is a Star (per pyramid termite) is a song I can get behind.
posted by smirkette at 5:42 PM on May 22, 2015
posted by smirkette at 5:42 PM on May 22, 2015
Here's a link to an episode of the Oh No, Ross and Carrie podcast where they visit an OTO ceremony.
posted by baltimoretim at 5:46 PM on May 22, 2015
posted by baltimoretim at 5:46 PM on May 22, 2015
The worst tarot card set ever. Well, ok, better than mystical wise womyn cat tarot. But just barely.
I read this as "wise womyn car tarot" and had a lovely mental image of a stereotypical fortune-teller recoiling as she reveals the card bearing the Dodge Dart.
posted by the uncomplicated soups of my childhood at 6:18 PM on May 22, 2015 [10 favorites]
I read this as "wise womyn car tarot" and had a lovely mental image of a stereotypical fortune-teller recoiling as she reveals the card bearing the Dodge Dart.
posted by the uncomplicated soups of my childhood at 6:18 PM on May 22, 2015 [10 favorites]
I dunno, I've never understood the Cult of Crowley, as it were. He has always struck me as a wealthy white man who wanted an excuse for the worst of his physical appetites.
posted by Kitteh at 6:31 PM on May 22, 2015 [11 favorites]
posted by Kitteh at 6:31 PM on May 22, 2015 [11 favorites]
"Any sufficiently advanced teknology is indistinguishable from magick"
posted by thelonius at 6:39 PM on May 22, 2015 [6 favorites]
posted by thelonius at 6:39 PM on May 22, 2015 [6 favorites]
Crowley is hardly the only rich and bored fucker to waste time on drugs and kinky sex. What differentiates him is that he wrote about it, formed at least one secret society around it, and made a lasting influence on the world. Hardly the mark of someone who's simply hedonistic.
posted by idiopath at 6:44 PM on May 22, 2015 [9 favorites]
posted by idiopath at 6:44 PM on May 22, 2015 [9 favorites]
I saw the vid in the first link a few years back. It presents itself as rather b-grade sensationalist, but it's worth sticking with, as it really does work through many of the mysteries of The Beast's life, even as it humanizes him. Not a saint by any means, but a helluva lot less "evil" than any number of political players who were his contemporaries.
posted by philip-random at 6:50 PM on May 22, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by philip-random at 6:50 PM on May 22, 2015 [2 favorites]
Crowley's definitely not easy to pin down. He did some awful things, especially to those closest to him. And he was very much the performer. But he also compiled and organized a lot of material on magick and occultism that might be lost to us today, thinking and writing about it in texts that have influenced whole new approaches to spirituality in general. Practitioners of magick I know today eschew his guidelines and practices, but recognize his importance as a pioneer for 20th century spirituality. He was the Freud of the New Age movement - you wouldn't want to abide his teachings directly, his attitudes are woefully outdated today, but he certainly blazed the trail.
posted by Aya Hirano on the Astral Plane at 7:14 PM on May 22, 2015 [10 favorites]
posted by Aya Hirano on the Astral Plane at 7:14 PM on May 22, 2015 [10 favorites]
Plus, think of how many metalheads bought The Book Of Lies after hearing that one Ozzy song.
posted by Aya Hirano on the Astral Plane at 7:17 PM on May 22, 2015
posted by Aya Hirano on the Astral Plane at 7:17 PM on May 22, 2015
I'm pretty much with Aya Hirano and idiopath. Crowley's got the reputation that he has largely because he was one of the first people to write this esoterica down; he reminds me a bit of of what Green Arrow said to and about Batman in The Dark Knight Returns: "You're quiet, but it's a loud kind of quiet."
posted by Halloween Jack at 7:20 PM on May 22, 2015
posted by Halloween Jack at 7:20 PM on May 22, 2015
I dunno, I've never understood the Cult of Crowley, as it were. He has always struck me as a wealthy white man who wanted an excuse for the worst of his physical appetites.
Nailed it in one.
Crowley's got the reputation that he has largely because he was one of the first people to write this esoterica down
He's not even remotely one of the first. The SRIA and the GD had it all written down long before he arrived on the scene; he was the first to publish the current (ahem) state of the occult world in such a widespread manner. After burgling the GD offices.
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 8:15 PM on May 22, 2015 [3 favorites]
Nailed it in one.
Crowley's got the reputation that he has largely because he was one of the first people to write this esoterica down
He's not even remotely one of the first. The SRIA and the GD had it all written down long before he arrived on the scene; he was the first to publish the current (ahem) state of the occult world in such a widespread manner. After burgling the GD offices.
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 8:15 PM on May 22, 2015 [3 favorites]
fffm, he was full of confusing contradictions - a thief of ideas and a deconstructionist of them - a psychonaut and a drooling junkie - a visionary and a poetaster - he yo-yo's from poverty to wealth quite a lot in his life, but died pretty broke - he was capable of stunning insight, utter banality and deliberately obscure gibberish
he was also a psychopathic asshole - just read his autobiography, he'll make it very clear to you
people are still trying to figure out the bullshit to wisdom ratio in his writings - he was great at collating the ideas of the esoteric tradition, but he was even better at using them for justifying his appalling self-indulgence - he's interesting to read, even at his worst, but you sure as hell wouldn't want him as a friend - his basic thought that this was the era of the child, that one should achieve the knowledge and conversation of one's holy guardian angel, and that do what thou wilt should be the whole of the law are absolutely essential for our age, but for himself, he totally abused and screwed it up
it's important to go over the basics with him, but he's not trustworthy or someone to emulate - and there are less dangerous and more fruitful ways of negotiating the mental states that magick deals with, which is why i checked it out and then abandoned it for creative art
that we're still discussing him 100 years after his most notorious years says something, i think
posted by pyramid termite at 9:09 PM on May 22, 2015 [6 favorites]
he was also a psychopathic asshole - just read his autobiography, he'll make it very clear to you
people are still trying to figure out the bullshit to wisdom ratio in his writings - he was great at collating the ideas of the esoteric tradition, but he was even better at using them for justifying his appalling self-indulgence - he's interesting to read, even at his worst, but you sure as hell wouldn't want him as a friend - his basic thought that this was the era of the child, that one should achieve the knowledge and conversation of one's holy guardian angel, and that do what thou wilt should be the whole of the law are absolutely essential for our age, but for himself, he totally abused and screwed it up
it's important to go over the basics with him, but he's not trustworthy or someone to emulate - and there are less dangerous and more fruitful ways of negotiating the mental states that magick deals with, which is why i checked it out and then abandoned it for creative art
that we're still discussing him 100 years after his most notorious years says something, i think
posted by pyramid termite at 9:09 PM on May 22, 2015 [6 favorites]
...As meetings of the Hydra Club are never called to order, just so they are never adjourned. People simply began to drift away, it was as I said midnight, and we walked along in the light of the street-lamps; it was a street of older houses and had old-fasioned iron lamp-posts. A silence fell, then The Gentleman said to me, "What about Aleister Crowley?"Avram Davidson, Adventures in Unhistory
It was asked as though, certainly, in response to my having mentioned that name...but as though I had mentioned nothing more. Now I admit is is possible that I had done so. But I cannot now think why I should have done so. It did not at that time greatly interest me. Was it possible, I now ask myself, that indeed I had said nothing but that he for some reason had been thinking of the subject with his unconscious mind and had thought, but only thought, that I mentioned it? However this may be, he asked, "What about Aleister Crowley?" and I answered, simply, "He's dead." The Gentleman walked into a lamp-post. He was not drunk, and although he was wearing glasses they were not thick glasses. The lamp-post was fully lit. He just walked into it. As though it had not been there at all. His glasses broke and fell down. The pipe broke off in his mouth and fell down. His hat fell off. There was not a drop of blood and he insisted he was not hurt and indeed he seemed not to be hurt. I showed some distress, he showed none; as we picked up the pieces he laughed all the while. Hysteria? Not a trace of it.
Nothing more was said about Aleister Crowley. We took the subway and I went to Greenwich Village and The Gentleman went to one of the great railroad stations and there took a train to his home and there The Gentleman went into his study and shot himself. Fatally.
No one knew why, then, and no one knows why, now.
posted by Iridic at 10:50 PM on May 22, 2015 [4 favorites]
After burgling the GD offices.
And a damn good thing he did! He made their Sooper Seekrit information widely available, because he thought it should be. But the extant of his contributions do not end there. He drew in texts from a variety of sources. And then decided "wouldn't it be great to invent a religion that unifies all these ideas?" which he then set out to do, on his own, without belonging to some elite Old Boy club to do it. This was a prototype for many, many other people who came after him to follow, some doing it better than others.
posted by Aya Hirano on the Astral Plane at 1:53 AM on May 23, 2015 [2 favorites]
And a damn good thing he did! He made their Sooper Seekrit information widely available, because he thought it should be. But the extant of his contributions do not end there. He drew in texts from a variety of sources. And then decided "wouldn't it be great to invent a religion that unifies all these ideas?" which he then set out to do, on his own, without belonging to some elite Old Boy club to do it. This was a prototype for many, many other people who came after him to follow, some doing it better than others.
posted by Aya Hirano on the Astral Plane at 1:53 AM on May 23, 2015 [2 favorites]
Yeah, by "write it all down" I meant "actually get it in print."
posted by Halloween Jack at 6:30 AM on May 23, 2015
posted by Halloween Jack at 6:30 AM on May 23, 2015
And then decided "wouldn't it be great to invent a religion that unifies all these ideas?"
I used to think that. The older and more cynical I get, I think he was thinking more like "wouldn't it be great if I invented a religion that gave me permission to do whatever I wanted, oh and a constant supply of pliant young acolytes to do it with?"
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 6:50 AM on May 23, 2015 [1 favorite]
I used to think that. The older and more cynical I get, I think he was thinking more like "wouldn't it be great if I invented a religion that gave me permission to do whatever I wanted, oh and a constant supply of pliant young acolytes to do it with?"
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 6:50 AM on May 23, 2015 [1 favorite]
I only know about Crowley from Preston Sturges' autobiography. Apparently, his mother was one of Crowley's lovers and worked on some of his projects, in between hanging out with Isadora Duncan and dragging little Preston around Europe.
Preston was not impressed with Crowley at all.
posted by droplet at 6:55 AM on May 23, 2015 [1 favorite]
Preston was not impressed with Crowley at all.
posted by droplet at 6:55 AM on May 23, 2015 [1 favorite]
I used to think that. The older and more cynical I get, I think he was thinking more like "wouldn't it be great if I invented a religion that gave me permission to do whatever I wanted, oh and a constant supply of pliant young acolytes to do it with?"
Yeah, like I said, he did some awful things, especially those close to him. For me this doesn't dismiss the trailblazing and the New Age spirituality it spawned in its wake. It doesn't excuse it, at all, mind you.
posted by Aya Hirano on the Astral Plane at 7:44 AM on May 23, 2015
Yeah, like I said, he did some awful things, especially those close to him. For me this doesn't dismiss the trailblazing and the New Age spirituality it spawned in its wake. It doesn't excuse it, at all, mind you.
posted by Aya Hirano on the Astral Plane at 7:44 AM on May 23, 2015
(And by "it" I mean his studies and spiritual efforts; not the awful things. Gah. Sorry bout that.)
posted by Aya Hirano on the Astral Plane at 8:08 AM on May 23, 2015
posted by Aya Hirano on the Astral Plane at 8:08 AM on May 23, 2015
Something something personality cult.
posted by ostranenie at 9:50 AM on May 23, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by ostranenie at 9:50 AM on May 23, 2015 [1 favorite]
Therefore, we can kill Aleister Crowly if we want.
posted by rankfreudlite at 10:03 AM on May 23, 2015
posted by rankfreudlite at 10:03 AM on May 23, 2015
He'd only enjoy it.
Whether he enjoyed it or not, he would still be dead.
posted by rankfreudlite at 10:29 AM on May 23, 2015
Whether he enjoyed it or not, he would still be dead.
posted by rankfreudlite at 10:29 AM on May 23, 2015
"wouldn't it be great if I invented a religion that gave me permission to do whatever I wanted, oh and a constant supply of pliant young acolytes to do it with?"
See, the thing that I love about Fr. Perdurabo and his work is that his fully philosophically consistent response to any criticism like this would be, "So? Did I claim otherwise?"
I like to look at the whole thing in the context of Dada, which was also happening at the time. People like Duchamp and Man Ray started out, sometimes literally, screaming, "NONE OF THE MAKES SENSE. THERE IS NO MEANING TO IT." and so we've spent the last century trying to figure out what it means.
posted by cmoj at 10:53 AM on May 23, 2015 [1 favorite]
See, the thing that I love about Fr. Perdurabo and his work is that his fully philosophically consistent response to any criticism like this would be, "So? Did I claim otherwise?"
I like to look at the whole thing in the context of Dada, which was also happening at the time. People like Duchamp and Man Ray started out, sometimes literally, screaming, "NONE OF THE MAKES SENSE. THERE IS NO MEANING TO IT." and so we've spent the last century trying to figure out what it means.
posted by cmoj at 10:53 AM on May 23, 2015 [1 favorite]
I think he was thinking more like "wouldn't it be great if I invented a religion that gave me permission to do whatever I wanted, oh and a constant supply of pliant young acolytes to do it with?"
I'm reading Going Clear by Lawrence Wright at the moment, and now I wonder if L. Ron Hubbard ever tried contacting Crowley before (or after) the latter died. Based on other things I've read, Hubbard was quite the fan, while Crowley regarded Hubbard as a ridiculous flake.
I'd kind of like to see Crowley vs. Hubbard turn into a new nerd-meme along the lines of the now-played-out Tesla vs. Edison matchup, but with the implicit understanding that they were both terrible, abusive megalomaniacs who really shouldn't be anybody's guru. But I think they both illustrate two different kinds of flim-flammery that haunted the 20th century -- one based in an older Victorian gothic spookhouse occultism, the other based in newer Gernsbackian "scientifictional" notions of progress and human development.
posted by Strange Interlude at 11:15 AM on May 23, 2015 [7 favorites]
I'm reading Going Clear by Lawrence Wright at the moment, and now I wonder if L. Ron Hubbard ever tried contacting Crowley before (or after) the latter died. Based on other things I've read, Hubbard was quite the fan, while Crowley regarded Hubbard as a ridiculous flake.
I'd kind of like to see Crowley vs. Hubbard turn into a new nerd-meme along the lines of the now-played-out Tesla vs. Edison matchup, but with the implicit understanding that they were both terrible, abusive megalomaniacs who really shouldn't be anybody's guru. But I think they both illustrate two different kinds of flim-flammery that haunted the 20th century -- one based in an older Victorian gothic spookhouse occultism, the other based in newer Gernsbackian "scientifictional" notions of progress and human development.
posted by Strange Interlude at 11:15 AM on May 23, 2015 [7 favorites]
I've always confused Crowley with Hilaire Belloc. How stupid of me. +1 tho for every high school party that started with "Mr. Crowley." I once chugged a jar of Carlo Rossi to that song.
Apropos, there was a big sale at Sotheby's in '99, early aughties, something like that, of Crowleyana: books, artifacts, manuscripts, etc. The best thing at it was Crowley's magical robes which I dreamed of buying to lounge around in.
posted by octobersurprise at 5:36 PM on May 23, 2015
Apropos, there was a big sale at Sotheby's in '99, early aughties, something like that, of Crowleyana: books, artifacts, manuscripts, etc. The best thing at it was Crowley's magical robes which I dreamed of buying to lounge around in.
posted by octobersurprise at 5:36 PM on May 23, 2015
I once chugged a jar of Carlo Rossi to that song.
What went on in your head? Did you talk to the dead?
posted by Aya Hirano on the Astral Plane at 6:25 PM on May 23, 2015 [1 favorite]
What went on in your head? Did you talk to the dead?
posted by Aya Hirano on the Astral Plane at 6:25 PM on May 23, 2015 [1 favorite]
The best thing at it was Crowley's magical robes which I dreamed of buying to lounge around in.
Aesthetically brilliant. Hygienicly horifying.
posted by wotsac at 9:27 PM on May 23, 2015 [1 favorite]
Aesthetically brilliant. Hygienicly horifying.
posted by wotsac at 9:27 PM on May 23, 2015 [1 favorite]
No debate , Aleister Crowley was an interesting character ;
(1) a colleague of WB Yeats when they were in the Hermetic order of the Golden Dawn.
(2) W Somerset Maughams book the "Magician" (1908) is based on him.
(3) He received a blue at Cambridge University for his chess ability.
(4) L Ron Hubbard made millions turning his ideas into the Church of Scientology franchise.
Warning, do not read any of his writings on numerology they are complete nonsense !
posted by Narrative_Historian at 3:07 AM on May 24, 2015
(1) a colleague of WB Yeats when they were in the Hermetic order of the Golden Dawn.
(2) W Somerset Maughams book the "Magician" (1908) is based on him.
(3) He received a blue at Cambridge University for his chess ability.
(4) L Ron Hubbard made millions turning his ideas into the Church of Scientology franchise.
Warning, do not read any of his writings on numerology they are complete nonsense !
posted by Narrative_Historian at 3:07 AM on May 24, 2015
do not read any of his writings on numerology they are complete nonsense !
A tautology, surely.
posted by Lentrohamsanin at 5:04 AM on May 24, 2015 [5 favorites]
A tautology, surely.
posted by Lentrohamsanin at 5:04 AM on May 24, 2015 [5 favorites]
Crowley was a huge influence on Brazilian Rockeiro Raul Seixas and his collaborator Paulo Coelho who worked with him on the album Gita
posted by adamvasco at 12:10 PM on May 24, 2015
posted by adamvasco at 12:10 PM on May 24, 2015
I was in a band with a thelemite - it was an interesting year as he tried to argue that the cross over between daoism and thelema was quite strong, without convincing me in the slightest.
This individual I had to comfort one time and take his gun out of his hands to prevent him from shooting himself. After the tears, we got high and continued working onthe music we'd been working on last session - all smiles and laughter.
This was the same man who used polyamory to hide an unwillingness to face conflicts between lovers healthily, and instead just fuck who he wanted.
Also the same man who wouldn't work a normal job but would give away his vast knowledge of audio editing to a verbally abusive, broke woman who interviewed crackpots with her podcast. New age mumbo-jumbo and conspiracy theories abounded in his life and on his bookshelf.
When he finally couldn't pay his rent and I couldn't help him any more, he left for LA to be in the arms of another woman.
posted by thebotanyofsouls at 6:09 PM on May 24, 2015
This individual I had to comfort one time and take his gun out of his hands to prevent him from shooting himself. After the tears, we got high and continued working onthe music we'd been working on last session - all smiles and laughter.
This was the same man who used polyamory to hide an unwillingness to face conflicts between lovers healthily, and instead just fuck who he wanted.
Also the same man who wouldn't work a normal job but would give away his vast knowledge of audio editing to a verbally abusive, broke woman who interviewed crackpots with her podcast. New age mumbo-jumbo and conspiracy theories abounded in his life and on his bookshelf.
When he finally couldn't pay his rent and I couldn't help him any more, he left for LA to be in the arms of another woman.
posted by thebotanyofsouls at 6:09 PM on May 24, 2015
I was good friends with a dedicated Thelemite who went on to become a successful businessman.
posted by ovvl at 9:31 PM on May 24, 2015
posted by ovvl at 9:31 PM on May 24, 2015
In my more active Wiccan years, I was neighbors with a Thelemite who would remind me at almost every opportunity that he thought Wiccans were hippy-dippy, tree-hugging wussies who just couldn't handle *~real magick~*. He was absolutely insufferable, but more because he rode a unicycle for actual transportation.
posted by Aya Hirano on the Astral Plane at 2:01 PM on May 25, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Aya Hirano on the Astral Plane at 2:01 PM on May 25, 2015 [1 favorite]
He was absolutely insufferable, but more because he rode a unicycle for actual transportation.
That is beyond perfect. Thelemites = occult hipsters.
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 2:06 PM on May 25, 2015
That is beyond perfect. Thelemites = occult hipsters.
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 2:06 PM on May 25, 2015
Aya Hirano, you've given me an idea for a remake of The Young Ones: Can an insufferable Thelemite, a boring hippy Wiccan, a bastard Satanist, and a preppy New Ager all live under the same roof? Co-starring Alexei Sayle as the ghost of Aleister Crowley.
posted by Strange Interlude at 3:17 PM on May 25, 2015 [8 favorites]
posted by Strange Interlude at 3:17 PM on May 25, 2015 [8 favorites]
I would watch this. Especially if you use the crucifixion gag again.
posted by Aya Hirano on the Astral Plane at 4:57 PM on May 25, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by Aya Hirano on the Astral Plane at 4:57 PM on May 25, 2015 [2 favorites]
"Why do I always have to do the washing up, Rik?"
"Because Do What Thou Wilt Shall Be the Whole of the Law, Neil, and I wilt not doing the washing! Anyway, doesn't *your* law say you only have to do a third of it and you'll be finished?" *snort, smug grun*
posted by rifflesby at 6:15 PM on May 25, 2015 [5 favorites]
"Because Do What Thou Wilt Shall Be the Whole of the Law, Neil, and I wilt not doing the washing! Anyway, doesn't *your* law say you only have to do a third of it and you'll be finished?" *snort, smug grun*
posted by rifflesby at 6:15 PM on May 25, 2015 [5 favorites]
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posted by pyramid termite at 4:06 PM on May 22, 2015 [4 favorites]