The Word Of The Law

The Word Of The Law Cover Thelema a Greek word meaning Will

• Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law. (1:40)

This is the primary rule of Thelema. However it is also the most misunderstood quote from the text. To the ignorant it says do what you want but what it really means is for one to do as they willed to do. It is believed that one exists or is reborn by out of willing to become alive for some reason of another. So to do what one wills, means for one to do what they were destined to do. I personally follow this rule by listening to my intuition as I feel this to be the easiest thing to a voice of God that one can experience. However Do what you will and not as I will.

• Love is the law, love under will. (1:57)

Love the Greatest of all human emotions is even under the control of destiny and one’s Will. This is very vague and arguable law. Are we to Love all or are we to only love as our Will wills it to be?

• There is no law beyond Do what thou wilt. (3:60)

Restating that there is no law greater or above Do What Thou Wilt.

• Every Man and Every Woman is a star. (1:3)

One of the more significant quotes from the text states that we are a stars unto ourselves. That we each emit our own light and that light Travels in a straight line not crossing or affecting one another, coexisting in perfect unison. Each star is the center of its own galaxy. This quote tells how if we are each like individual stars, if we find and exist within our place in the world, then the world would function in a perfect sense. Each person is a gear in the machine of life doing what they were meant to do.

Free eBooks (Can Be Downloaded):

Alice Hoffman - The Book Of The Sagas
Margaret Alice Murray - The God Of The Witches
Aleister Crowley - The World Of Tarot
Lady Galadriel - The New Book Of The Law
Aleister Crowley - The Book Of The Law

Understanding Aleister Crowley Thoth Tarot

Understanding Aleister Crowley Thoth Tarot Cover

Book: Understanding Aleister Crowley Thoth Tarot by Lon Milo Duquette

Truly an excellent book. And I must disagree with the earlier reviewer who felt that Crowley had somehow been "dumbed down" or sanitized. Nothing could be further from the truth. Duquette spends a significant amount of space and time (nearly 100 pages) on explaining such things as the Holy Guardian Angel, the new Aeon of Horus, the Tree of Life, the significance of the Book of the Law as it relates to Crowley's tarot, etc. The bulk of the book is filled with detailed descriptions of each card, and their significance in the Tarot as a spiritual journey...rather than dwelling on divinatory meanings. There is a section at the back that gives brief divination meanings for readings, but clearly he (and Crowley too), thought that divination was a side effect produced by the Tarot...useful certainly, but not the main significance.

Lon DuQuette has a talent for making things like the writings of aleister crowley almost make sense. With "Understanding Aleister Crowley's Thoth Tarot", DuQuette continues his project of demystifying the difficult but critical body of literature left behind by the Beast.

The current work includes an introduction to the Rose Cross design that is worth the price of the book in itself. There is also a brief overview of Crowley's life and work. This latter is somewhat superficial, but any biography of Crowley is bound to be incomplete. DuQuette then goes over each card in turn, bringing the lofty metaphysics of the Book of Thoth down to earth. His formula for understanding the small cards is a good example of this. Apply it, and you should be able to memorize and internalize the cards at a much faster rate.

My only complaint really, and it is a very minor complaint, is that Duquette keeps apologizing for having to spend so much time on the background stuff. One apology would have been enough...anyone completely unfamilar with Qabala et al should know what they are getting into, and EXPECT some time spent explaining it. Continually apologizing for it was not necessary.

This book was written both for people with no interest in Crowley, and for those who wish to understand the Beast better. As such, it has to make a few concessions that it might not have if it had been written exclusively for magicians. Some of the more sexual aspects of Crowley's doctrines are toned down a bit, for example.

The extensive research which went into this volume, as well as DuQuette's own considerable experience on the subject, make this a text to be valued and read time and again - just as DuQuette himself recommends reading The Book of Thoth on a regular basis. But now, because of DuQuette's incredible efforts, the latter will be better understood by a broader audience, and the Thoth Tarot more comprehensively used for spiritually enlightening purposes, as it was meant to be.

I particulary liked the inclusion of bits of correspondence between Harris and Crowley, while the paintings were still being done. Duquette suggests that Crowley's original Book of Thoth (book) would be required reading alongside this book, and I must agree. It doesn't replace the original, it just makes jumping into it a lot less painful. I wish this book had been available years ago when I first read the Crowley book!

Buy Lon Milo Duquette's book: Understanding Aleister Crowley Thoth Tarot

Books in PDF format to read:

Aleister Crowley - Letters Between Aleister Crowley And Frieda Harris
Aleister Crowley - The Works Of Aleister Crowley Vol Iii Part 3
Aleister Crowley - The Works Of Aleister Crowley Vol I Part 3

Astral Travels Of 1898

Astral Travels Of 1898 Cover

Book: Astral Travels Of 1898 by Aleister Crowley

1898 Visions, Crowley's Astral Travel Visions.

Download Aleister Crowley's eBook: Astral Travels Of 1898

Free eBooks (Can Be Downloaded):

John Dee - The Calls Of Enoch
Valentina Izmirlieva - All The Names Of The Lord
Anonymous - The Emerald Tablet Of Hermes
Solomonic Grimoires - The Emerald Tablets Of Hermes
Aleister Crowley - Astral Travels Of 1898

Return Of The Beast

Return Of The Beast Cover Proof of the cynical nature of events in the Pop Biz, the last time Mr. Crowley found favour was in stoned-hippy late-60s and early 80s, when he vied for attention with Krishna, Yin-Yang and God knows what else. Now he's back with a vengeance it seems.

It seems that many bands, unable to project an image that is even remotely interesting because of their complete emptiness, have clambered on to the good ship image of Aleister Crowley. The method is simple - find a charismatic and uncompromising individual and imply that she or he is the inspiration and guidance behind the band, then project the image on this basis 'Basically I don't have anything to say, but as we are interested in Aleister Crowley, we must be pretty weird, don't you think?'

A sinister murmur of 'Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of The Law', pan to skeletons and grinning demons, wear lots of black, load up with large numbers of black crosses (a la hippy) and, hey presto, a new movement: Positive Punk, with bands that are old enough to have been hippies the first time around anyway.

Crowley's ideas and imagery have influenced bands from every generation. The most obvious are Black Sabbath, Hawkwind, Graham Bond (who claimed to be one of Crowley's illegitimate sons met his personal Abyss under a tube train), Led Zep, King Crimson, Toyah, Blood And Roses, Throbbing Gristle, Psychic TV, Killing Joke and Sex Gang Children. There was also a short-lived outfit called Order of the Golden Dawn and Haysi have a track on their LP called 'Here Comes The Beast'.

Jimmy Page of Led Zep is probably the most renowned Crowleyite in rock. He owns Crowley's old house in Boleskine on the shores of Loch Ness and was almost single-handedly responsible for the rise in value of Crowley's work in the early 70's. Page bought up everything to do with Crowley that went on to the market - he even had a person employed full time to go to auctions and bid for Crowley items.

Eventually he opened a shop in Kensington High Street called 'Equinox' to sell Crowley's writings (now closed). He started his own publishing company to put out books by Crowley and other such authors.

Black Sabbath used Crowleyan and Satanic imagery as early as 1969. The Satanic atmosphere was always heavy in their work, thunder, lightening and rain lashing Ozzy Osbourne as he wails 'What is this that stands before me? Figure in black that points at me… OH NOOOO, God please help me!' After Ozzy left Sabbath he got further into the Satan trip, biting off bats' heads and doing songs titled 'Mr.Crowley'. As he got more over the top he went more downhill…

Graham Bond, claiming direct descendence from the seed of the Great Beast himself, recorded an album of Holy Magick ritual, complete with pentagram.

Throbbing Gristle used Crowley's imagery and theories on power to drive their walls of sound and noise. Genesis P-Orridge would chant 'love is the law' in a tone of marvellous understatement in their almost hit-single 'United'. P-Orridge was always totally open about the primary Influence Crowley and William Burroughs had on TG's work. At same the time, he never played them to death or attempted to convert his passions and obsessions into cheap publicity.

Unlike Toyah. Desperately grabbing any ploy to draw attention to her outstandingly boring work, she simpered about sleeping in coffins (weally shocking!) and that she read Crowley's 'Devil's Bible' (pathetic). She would then launch into such happy gibberings as 'found myself in a neon womb'. Far out.

Killing Joke captured the apocalyptic feel of Crowley's most important work, 'The Book Of The Law', in their stunning 'The Fall Of The Because' (an Expression taken from that book). Singer Jaz and drummer Paul influenced the Joke Crowley-wise, but without name dropping at every opportunity. The sleeve of 'Follow The Leaders' depicted a procession holding aloft Crowley's self-designed Tarot pack. Eventually Jaz went to Iceland to seek the company of Peyr (Fear), a group with similar dark interests.

Meanwhile, a flash of lightening on a lonely moor reveals Blood And Roses, complete with 'beautiful' audience, chanting the odd 'Necromantra'. Their 'Love Under Will' sports Gothic skeletons on the sleeve and a spiel which starts and ends with Crowley's most well-known phrases - 'Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of The Law' and 'Love is the Law, Love under Will'. Blood And Roses had nothing to do with it, they say. The hippies keep marching on.

Crowley seems so popular with the uninspired image-seekers because he generated much powerful imagery. Symbols are ready-made and waiting for those with little respect for Crowley and their audience. Magick became this year's big thing. The punks that started off despising hippies gradually turned into the very thing they hated, while deluding themselves they were being revolutionary and shocking. An intelligent article on Crowley in Sounds by Sandy Robertson was unwittingly responsible for a lot of crap to come. Readers were presented with a perfect anti-hero who took drugs (in vast quantities!) And Got Noticed. He was WEIRD. Suddenly the Posi-Punk bands were competing with the Heavy Metal brigade (Witchfinder General - Ha Ha!) to see who could cram the most Satans and symbols on their sleeves. A Sounds headline announced 'The Magic And The Mystery of the New Punks'. This seemed to consist of wearing a top hat and having long hair, albeit spiked up (still long hair though).

From flares to bondage trousers, from patchouli oil to glue sniffing. Both sets of hippies ended up in Magick.

Free eBooks (Can Be Downloaded):

Bernard King - Meanings Of The Runes
Aleister Crowley - The Heart Of The Master
Nicolas Schreck - Demons Of The Flesh

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