"Do what thou wilt" - a brief examination of Aleister Crowley

[Oceania]

lol well i don't mind drug dealing as long as you don't use mules... and pimp, how? anyway wasn't he gay or something?

[Meerie]

From wiki :
A satirical write-in campaign to elect Aleister Crowley as President of the United States in 2012 was also launched, with the aims of spreading Aleister Crowley's philosophy in the realm of politics and to dispel myths and falsehoods about Aleister Crowley.[176]

also from wiki, about his death:

Biographer Lawrence Sutin passes on various stories about Crowley's death and last words. Frieda Harris supposedly reported him saying, "I am perplexed," though she did not see him at the very end. According to John Symonds, a Mr. Rowe witnessed Crowley's death along with a nurse, and reported his last words as "Sometimes I hate myself." Biographer Gerald Suster accepted the version of events he received from a "Mr W.H." who worked at the house, in which Crowley dies pacing in his living room.[126] Supposedly Mr W.H. heard a crash while polishing furniture on the floor below, and entered Crowley's rooms to find him dead on the floor.

Patricia "Deirdre" MacAlpine, who visited Crowley with their son and her three other children, denied all this and reports a sudden gust of wind and peal of thunder at the (otherwise quiet) moment of his death.

"I am perplexed"
"sometimes I hate myself"
hm.... I think option three would be more fitting, the wind and thunder at the moment of his death.

[peelstreetguy]

I learned an awfull lot from Crowley when I first got interested in metaphysics. I owned and read most of his books. Gotta watch out for the blinds in his writing though! As with everything, I took what I wanted and left the rest behind. His book "yoga for yahoos and yellow bellies" , I found very good for learning to meditate.

His books taught me to anaylize my mind in a very effective way to polarize positively. Although I didn't go to the extreme of taking a razor blade to my arm. He taught me to look at myself from an outward perspective. To look for the true desire and motive behind my every word, my every thought, my every deed. To put the ego in check.

[Oceania]

i think this thread is NOW derailed. i'd like to get back to discussing Crowley.

[Steppingfeet]

i think this thread is NOW derailed. i'd like to get back to discussing Crowley.

Yes, Oceania, thank you for this friendly reminder. I've split the discussion posts on this issue to this thread. Please feel free to return to discussing Crowley without further distraction.

Also, Ankh and Oceania, thank you for sharing your thoughts in subsequent posts. I'll reply later on today to the off-topic thread. : ) Gary

[Diana]

It sounds to me as if AC was self-indulgent, and focused on an animal part of our nature bringing the whole being out of balance. Sexuality in its animal form, with its accompanying hormones and physical sensations, has its intention rooted in the instinct for survival and procreation. When one uses 2D animal limited sexuality for magik, or for attaining higher states of consciousness, one is combining things which don't resonate or are out of balance. Evolved sexuality would be more in balance with intentions of higher consciousness.

In our limited 3D perception, we are perceptive enough to easily grasp that there is power in procreation/sexuality because this act can create a new being. But the reality is that there is power in everything. It is our gross understanding that engenders a focus on such obvious power rather than grasping the more subtle understandings of our universe.

This would cause a rift in my estimation. Sexuality itself would need to evolve past the basic animal/survival imperative to be balanced enough to use with higher intentions. The end results of such imbalance would cause addictions for instance.

[Oceania]

but did the magic cause his distortions? it seems to me he was into that stuff because he was confused.

[3DMonkey]

I think Crowley created highly controversial writings explicitly intended to get publicity. So, I don't take anything he wrote seriously.

[Oceania]

then why did Ra say he was distorted?

[Meerie]

hey Ra says that all the time! we are all distorted

[Oceania]

lol i forget what Ra said, something about him being in pain.

[Monica]

but did the magic cause his distortions? it seems to me he was into that stuff because he was confused.

I don't think the magick caused his distortions, but exacerbated his distortions. I think he was already distorted, and got into higher teachings he wasn't ready for. And, his green ray was blocked, so...what do we know about opening the higher centers with a blocked green?

Had the heart center not been blocked, the magick could have been appropriate. But with the blockage, the magick ended up adding to his confusion.

Like when people use LSD and it opens up knowledge they aren't ready for. It's a shortcut, but shortcuts can be dangerous.

[Oceania]

yeah.

[Aureus]

I don't think the magick caused his distortions, but exacerbated his distortions. I think he was already distorted, and got into higher teachings he wasn't ready for. And, his green ray was blocked, so...what do we know about opening the higher centers with a blocked green?

Had the heart center not been blocked, the magick could have been appropriate. But with the blockage, the magick ended up adding to his confusion.

Like when people use LSD and it opens up knowledge they aren't ready for. It's a shortcut, but shortcuts can be dangerous.

So if one would accept and integrate the knowledge, would the heart open further as well as throat chakra?

[Oceania]

i don't think it's good if you haven't opened your chakras first. drugs are bad for people who are distorted like Crowley. it's why i don't want to take stuff like that. i know i have mental problems that would cause me damage.

[Monica]

So if one would accept and integrate the knowledge, would the heart open further as well as throat chakra?

I suppose that is theoretically possible. It's been over 30 years since I did LSD, but at the time, it was like getting a blast of knowledge like a fire hose trying to fit through a straw!

If Crowley did both magick and mind-altering drugs then no wonder he went crazy.

I started reading his biography but didn't finish it. And I dabbled with some of his books but they didn't resonate with me. (I was probably hesitant to get into them too much.) So I actually don't know that much about Crowley. Did they even have LSD back then? (dumb question)

[Aureus]

I could see that Monica. I myself have only smoked some weed. I think it's useful in a calm and serious environtment.

[Monica]

I could see that Monica. I myself have only smoked some weed. I think it's useful in a calm and serious environtment.

Related thread: Life on Planet Earth > The Spiritual Use of Entheogens

[peelstreetguy]

Last summer I found myself in a second hand book store and bought "Diary of a Drug Fiend", written by Crowley while he was trying to quit heroine. He was addicted to cocaine and heroine. He also did other drugs but I can't remember which ones.

[Monica]

Last summer I found myself in a second hand book store and bought "Diary of a Drug Fiend", written by Crowley while he was trying to quit heroine. He was addicted to cocaine and heroine. He also did other drugs but I can't remember which ones.

Ah yes, I remember now. Well I've never done heroin but I've never heard of anyone getting the kind of spiritual knowledge from it like what happens sometimes with LSD. I could be wrong, though. I don't know much about heroin. What I mean is that, he might have handled other drugs better than he did coke and heroin. Heroin's some nasty stuff.

I assume he never kicked the heroin habit? It's very difficult to kick so I'd be surprised if he did.

No wonder he got messed up. This helps to have more compassion for him. He probably thought he'd found the ticket to Nirvana. So little was known about H back then. He set himself up for a very nasty surprise, when he found himself addicted.

That's tragic. He was obviously a very brilliant entity. It's tragic that he got sidetracked by addiction like that. Who knows; his addiction probably opened the door to negative greeting, which he (apparently) succumbed to.

[Oceania]

mmm heroin. i love opiates. i think Coleridge smoked opium. if you can download Kubla Khan you can open a door to amazing things.

[Parsons]

Thanks for posting that he wrote that book about heroin and cocain abuse. Watching the movie Trainspotting many times growing up was partially why I decided to never touch heroin. Great movie if you haven't seen it, btw.

[peelstreetguy]

That's right Monica, very little was known about H back then. He probably thought he'd found the ticket, yes I agree. The Coke was used to balance the H.

[Sagittarius]

It was invented in 1938 but Crowley was dead before it spread to the public. LSD pretty much rips open your third eye. If you think you have little ego now wait till you try some LSD. It has given me my biggest catalysts to date.

Not something to take often, also not something to take if you are not in the mood for it. A small dose is great for your first time, leave the heavy doses till you are more comfortable. The heavy doses are indescribable.

[Monica]

That's right Monica, very little was known about H back then. He probably thought he'd found the ticket, yes I agree. The Coke was used to balance the H.

H is some powerful stuff. I really really do feel more compassion for him, knowing this. Look how many people got hooked on H even after knowing how addictive it was. And he didn't know! Oh, that is so sad!

An amazing book about this is Wonderland Avenue by Danny Sugerman. It's in my top 10 fav books of all time. It's a very fun read, but has some incredible redeeming value too. Highly recommended!

Anyway, in the book Danny tells of his first heroin experience. It really does explain how someone like Crowley could have gotten hooked.

Coke, in itself, can really mess someone up. I did it when I was a teenager - real cocaine not these new hybrid things they have now - and it's not even much of a high. It's very subtle. But 20 minutes later, if I didn't have more, I was extremely irritable.

Coke's a tough mistress. I'm glad it was prohibitively expensive at the time and I never did it much after that.

Relating back to Crowley, who knows how much of his 'edgy' personality had to do with the drugs?

[Oceania]

i dunno why people do coke. i get heroin.

[Monica]

i dunno why people do coke. i get heroin.

It's a cleaner, more subtle high than speed (amphetamines).

I'm referring to the coke we had back in the 70s. Nowadays, when people say coke they are often referring to meth or crack, which are much nastier and much more addictive, they say.

I shudder to think of how nasty those new drugs must be. The stuff we did in the 70s was bad enough.

Crowley probably didn't know much about any of them. How alone he must have felt! A pioneer in consciousness, experimenting with powerful drugs. (shudder)

[Oceania]

yah makes you feel for him. you can send love back in time.

[Unbound]

I'm somewhat reluctant to share my thoughts on Aleister Crowley, since I feel a deep intimacy with that Life-Stream. Aleister Crowley was a mechanism, a mystery which was first to be revealed and then expounded. The heavily distorted nature of his works were entirely intentional, and in fact entirely necessary at the time for the information needed to be revealed at the time.

Rather, what I feel of Aleister, is that he embodied an archetype of the Magician in the purest sense, and he fulfilled all that he needed to. His life gives us an example, a working model of the potentials contained within the mind, and thus the potential pitfalls that all may be aware of.

I admit, sometimes I feel like I was Aleister Crowley, I have looked in the mirror in the past and seen his face, and looked in to his eyes. Sometimes I've thought perhaps I was communicating with him across time, and I have had some pretty powerful memories when reading about him. Perhaps I am merely experiencing some state of Oneness, I can never be sure.

[Oceania]

i used to think i was Aleister Crowley. i read about him and felt a connection.