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to no. 10
Horary Astrology
to no. 12
Natal Mandala
[11] Aleister Crowley
ABSAdomain no.: 11
[Primary] Knowledge type: Esoteric
Role in ABSAprime's worldview: Moderate
ABSAlink(s): TBA [via ABSAdomain interaction]
Degree of Difficulty: Extremely difficult
"Crowley was a hero of mine. The things he was able to achieve with his willpower were simply amazing..” -- William S. Burroughs
"Crowley was a man of extraordinary ability, and a man of great personal magnetism. He had a genius for self-advertisement, and he could persuade people to believe in the most incredible things." -- Arthur Edward Waite
"Crowley was a remarkable man who knew how to manipulate people and circumstances to his advantage. His works have influenced many." -- L. Ron Hubbard
"The only way to deal with the future is to function efficiently in the now." -- Aleister Crowley
Aleister Crowley: Beast, Benefactor? Both?
This might prove to be one of the more controversial of the domains, as it involves Aleister Crowley, the notorious English occultist whose public personae (“The Beast 666,” “The Wickedest Man Alive,” and on and on) reflected not only Crowley’s sardonic sense of humor but saw him couch his most outrageous demonstrations in such intellectually stimulating and satisfying terms that one of his basic goals, to find a way of uniting the principles of “white” magic (Wicca and similar approaches) and “black” magic (Satanism, etc.), is to a great extent obscured by his social antics (during the mid-20th century, Crowley’s conduct outraged and titillated large parts of London high society).
An interesting exploration of this latter point is found in the television series Pennyworth, where Crowley's hold on Britain's high society figures into the plan of Alfred Pennyworth (this is the "Alfred" identified as the Wayne family butler in Batman lore) plan to stop a cadre of Fascists.
On the other side is Crowley’s superlative mind. His grasp of world thought (including that in exotic languages) is breathtaking. We like his instructions to his magickal lodge. To be admitted, they had to be thoroughly familiar with several dozen academic works on philosophy, classic volumes, notoriously hard for non-academics, which would do any philosophy doctoral candidate proud.
So, with Crowley you have to take his truly amazing observations about reality (his controversial edict, “do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law,” is a great example—you could study the rest of your life and not get to the bottom of that idea) and keep that compartmentalized from his over-the-top public antics. It’s not just interesting that there seems to be a strict bifurcation between the two realms, but that clearly Crowley does not want there to be. He seems to want us to know that outrageousness, public or private, is needed for spiritual advancement. That's one reason we see trickery, pranks, or downright tomfoolery (a Crowley specialty) embedded in the rites he describes.
Unpacking this fascinating idea, we’ll see that it conforms to other modes of thought, where what seems division is really unity (and vice versa—along with the reverse). Was outrageous behavior necessary to bring attention to the “reality” of Crowley’s hermetic workings? Or, in some clandestine way, do social antics serve as mask and (ultimately enable one) to perform magickal workings? We will do much, much more with this notion as we move through the domains.
With Crowley, never, ever, forget drama...
Crowley was in love with the spotlight and one of the things we can take from that is to see every human act as some sort of public dramatic performance, with the edict “do what thou wilt” referring to the raw material of existence, from which one can, no, must, assemble processes to deal with life.
Crowley is also a great example of someone you could follow far down the rabbit hole of his view of the universes, should that be your determination in pursuit of your own evolved consciousness. Hats off to you if you choose to do that with Aleister Crowley...seriously, the dude is an adult-size portion. In any case, public persona be damned (pun perhaps intended!), he is probably the most accomplished metaphysician ever and we will rely on him (or at least what we can understand) for numerous insights. Just don’t be put off by that attention-getting “Satanic” thing: most folks know that’s probably, and mostly, just public relations 😜 Or is it?...
Note About Differing Domain Depths
A note about variation in length of chapters on the Basic Twelve ABSAdomains: these largely reflect my time of involvement with a given domain. So, Crowley’s chapter (ABSAdomain11) is comparatively brief, but my familiarity with his work is more limited, compared to horary astrology, whose chapter (ABSAdomain10) is longer.
My contact with Crowley, while almost certainly more than with many observers, is limited to his appearance in the Illuminatus! trilogy, and to some of my early work in Tarot reading using the Crowley/Harris deck [The Book of Thoth ].
I also tried the most difficult book I’ve ever encountered, Crowley’s The Book of Lies. From Wilson and Shea’s discussion of Crowley in appendices to Illuminatus! (and elsewhere in the trilogy), we get some clues. Nonetheless, in the tradition of spiritual puzzles, their reading of The Book of Lies raises more questions than they answer. (That is, I’m sure, deliberate😊)
But in other universes perhaps I, in a religious crusade, malign Crowley; one where I am his disciple; still others where I invent and propagate entire systems of thought extending far beyond Crowley’s view (which would truly be something!); still others in which I get bored and drop this whole project ☹ (kind of scary to think about, but a legitimate outcome—or outcomes—in any real world); and on and on, infinitely. (Again, let me recommend the multiple oscar winner, Everything, Everywhere, All at Once, plus my appended heads-up: if you find that film over-the-top in terms of believability, please be warned that the reality of this dive into Framework Two--which is essentially what this is [see Seth, ABSAdomain03]--is a vast over-simplification! The real thing is so much more liberating and inspiring!
Bringing the Domains into Focus
In my current Framework One, to understand Crowley further would require more time and effort than I could, at my age, give to it. But via ABSApundit I have found a way to think about Aleister Crowley’s amazing intellect without succumbing to the hoopla around his image as the Great Beast 666. Instead, here at ABSApundit we magnify every ABSA domain by joining it with other domains. We vivify the essence of Crowley’s thought through various illuminating domains of other language and thought.
But if you want to dive more, go for it!
Besides, please understand that nothing of what we say should ever, ever, ever (ever!) be taken to mean we object to further involvement by practitioners in any domain (ABSA- or otherwise), to whatever degree these practitioners feel is right for them. It’s always: what does embracing a domain’s principles and practices do for you? And that’s very simple test, one you will find increasingly useful on your journey. Want to know whether you should further pursue the essence of a particular domain? What does it do for you? That is the only test.
Using a domain does not mean you have to know all about that domain—a clear impossibility. But do we need to? There is a process in discovering this, achieving realms of understanding unknown to me and other non-initiates. But the teachings in which we are not initiated are available even to the less involved. We should realize that through linking someone like Crowley to other domains (such as the ABSAdomains, but others as needed) we start to understand someone who at first seems impenetrable but is actually connected in ways that we did not imagine.
As Below, So Above
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