93
Hey everyone: As many of you know Aleister Crowley is a very important part of my life. He was a very misunderstood, eccentric, genius. I thought some of these quotes may shed a new light on this great Holy man and intrigue some of you a bit further. Hope you enjoy them half as much as I have.
Jason
“The conscience of the world is so guilty that it always assumes that people
who investigate heresies must be heretics; just as if a doctor who studies
leprosy must be a leper. Indeed, it is only recently that science has been
allowed to study anything without reproach.”
-Crowley
"Science is always discovering odd scraps of magical wisdom and making a
tremendous fuss about its cleverness.”
-Crowley
"There seems to be much misunderstanding about True Will [...] The fact of a
person being a gentleman is as much an ineluctable factor as any possible
spiritual experience; in fact, it is possible, even probable, that a man may
be misled by the enthusiasm of an illumination, and if he should find
apparent conflict between his spiritual duty and his duty to honour, it is
almost sure evidence that a trap is being laid for him and he should
unhesitatingly stick to the course which ordinary decency indicates [...] I
wish to say definitely, once and for all, that people who do not understand
and accept this position have utterly failed to grasp the fundamental
principles of the Law of Thelema.
—The Magical Diaries of Aleister Crowley, p.21
I admit that my visions can never mean to other men as much as they do to
me. I do not regret this. All I ask is that my results should convince
seekers after truth that there is beyond doubt something worth while
seeking, attainable by methods more or less like mine. I do not want to
father a flock, to be the fetish of fools and fanatics, or the founder of a
faith whose followers are content to echo my opinions. I want each man to
cut his own way through the jungle.
—The Confessions of Aleister Crowley, Ch. 66
Thou then who hast trials and troubles, rejoice because of them, for in them
is Strength, and by their means is a pathway opened unto that Light-
Aleister Crowley, Liber Librae
There is a fourth kind of atheist, not really an atheist at all. He is but a
traveller in the Land of No God, and knows that it is but a stage on his
journey—and a stage, moreover, not far from the goal....This atheist, not
in-being but in-passing, is a very apt subject for initiation. He has done
with the illusions of dogma. From a Knight of the Royal Mystery he has risen
to understand with the members of the Sovereign Sanctuary that all is
symbolic; all, if you will, the Jugglery of the Magician. He is tired of
theories and systems of theology and all such toys; and being weary and
anhungred and athirst seeks a seat at the Table of Adepts, and a portion of
the Bread of Spiritual Experience, and a draught of the wine of Ecstasy.
[T]he essential of all magical work: the uniting of the microcosm with the
macrocosm.
—The Book of Thoth ("Hierophant")
--
I am not concerned to deny the objective reality of all "magical" phenomena;
if they are illusions, they are at least as real as many unquestioned facts
of daily life; and...they are at least evidence of some cause.
—The Goetia
It is spoken of the Sephiroth, and the Paths, of Spirits and Conjurations;
of Gods, Spheres, Planes, and many other things which may or may not exist.
It is immaterial whether they exist or not. By doing certain things certain
results follow; students are most earnestly warned against attributing
objective reality or philosophic validity to any of them.
—"Liber O"
Truth teaches understanding, freedom develops will, experience confers
resourcefulness, independence inspires self-confidence. Thereby success
becomes certain.
—"On the Education of Children"
he central principle of my teaching is to compel the pupil to rely on his
own resources, and having thus acquired good judgment and confidence, to
develop intelligent initiative.
—The Confessions of Aleister Crowley, Ch. 89
Ah! Mr. Waite, the world of Magic is a mirror, wherein who sees muck is
muck.
—The Goetia
“I was not content to believe in a personal devil and serve him, in the
ordinary sense of the word. I wanted to get hold of him personally and
become his chief of staff.”
-Crowley
93 93/93