Aleister Crowley

[Felix]

Do you find him a genius or just a arrogant man?

Did he know what he was talking about?

Have you read any of his books?

Do you know anything about the Ordo Templi Orientis?

What books or music do you know that secretly deals with him?

Was he, in your opinion, Pagan, Buddhist, or Satanic?
​

 

[Scarlett Wampus]

Do you find him a genius or just a arrogant man?

A very intelligent, educated man and a perverse arrogant twit also.

Did he know what he was talking about?

It depends on what he was talking about. Got anything specific in mind?

Have you read any of his books?

Practically all of them, several times in some cases.

Do you know anything about the Ordo Templi Orientis?

Yep. A long time ago in a galaxy far away I was a zealot Thelemite.

What books or music do you know that secretly deals with him?

Secretly deals with him? Hmm. His character and the kind of occult freemasonry he was involved in has been spoofed in popular fiction a lot. As for music, he was on the front cover of the Beatle's Sargent Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.

Was he, in your opinion, Pagan, Buddhist, or Satanic?

A bit of all three, though he was more influenced by Advaita Vedanta than he was Buddhism.

 

[Fluffy]

I've only read one of his books (The Book of Lies) and so any judgement of his character is largely based on that although the added commentary does help somewhat to that end. To tell you the truth I haven't really thought about it much, I just like a lot of what he says.

I consider Paganism to be inclusive of Buddhism and Satanism.

 

[Matt]

He seemed to throw together beliefs from various different cultures and religions. He was also a member of the temple of the golden dawn, until he published some of their secrets. I think he just added to his worship anything that suited him. He was just a drug addict who spent quite a long stint in a mental home, best place for him:banghead3

 

[kreeden]

He seemed to throw together beliefs from various different cultures and religions.

As a Spiritualist { not sure if that is the correct term ... } , of course he looked into as many religions and beliefs as possible . And used what worked for him .

I know very little about the OTO , but I tend to agree with what Scarlett Wampus says about him . He was a person , with fallings and strenghts . Nothing more . Nothing less .

 

[BFD_Zayl]

*shudders* theres not much in this world (or the next) that can creep me out anymore, but aleister is one of em, dont know why, maybe its because the only pic i have of him is when hes wearing that pyramid hat and has his wrists by his face.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

I have the Thoth Deck, which I don't understand well. I plan on looking for the Book of Thoth, but that's not a priority book of mine too look for right now.

 

[Scarlett Wampus]

I have the Thoth Deck, which I don't understand well. I plan on looking for the Book of Thoth, but that's not a priority book of mine too look for right now.

The Thoth deck is most suited to those interested in Crowley's initiation mythos and Thelema. While very pretty the deck is rather obscure and presents an awful lot of symbolic information that is simply superfluous otherwise. I wasn't able to use it after I became disillusioned with Thelema, it just muddied the waters of the archetypal imagery of the Tarot.

 

[RevOxley_501]

Do you find him a genius or just a arrogant man?


Intelligent no doubt, perhaps prodigious, and just as arrogant as either.

Did he know what he was talking about?

Well thats hard to say​

Have you read any of his books?

Sadly only Liber al Vel Legis--but im trying to get more​

Do you know anything about the Ordo Templi Orientis?

A little---im more into Thelemic studies myself--similar groups​

What books or music do you know that secretly deals with him?

uhh, Mr. Crowley by Black Sabbath​

Was he, in your opinion, Pagan, Buddhist, or Satanic?

Most definately Theistic Satanist
or just confused​

 

[Ramacharaka]

AHA!
is a good epic poem to start with after the Book of the Law, even if you didn't understand it. It is An exposition in poetic language of several of the ways of attainment and the results obtained. In the form of a Discourse between and Adept and His Pupil.

http://www.hermetic.com/crowley/libers/lib242.html

 

[Ramacharaka]

Crowley is just as important as all other Yogi publication society masonic authors, and philosophy authors of this kind, and very important in his own right

 

[Feathers in Hair]

Perhaps. *shrugs* From what little I've read about him, I'm not sure if I'd want to read any of his writings.

 

[lilithu]

Do you find him a genius or just a arrogant man?

Did he know what he was talking about?

Have you read any of his books?

Do you know anything about the Ordo Templi Orientis?

What books or music do you know that secretly deals with him?

Was he, in your opinion, Pagan, Buddhist, or Satanic?
​

Both a genius and an arrogant man. Why would one excuse the other?

He knew what he was talking about for many ideas; his ethics left something to be desired.

Yes.

Yes.

Secretly? I dunno. What do you know?

Buddhist??! Where do you get Buddhist from? He was most certainly not! He was interested in some Vedic tradtitions, more Hindu than Buddhist. I wouldn't call him Pagan either and was suprised to see him discussed in the Pagan forum. (Do others here consider Thelema to be Pagan?) Out of the three you listed, I'd say he was Satanic (which does not mean that he worshipped Satan).

 

[Reverend Rick]

AC was probably one of the greatest Qabalists of the 20th century. You realize he went mad during astral travel through the seporah. He was on his personal stairway to heaven so to speak. Lady Fredia Harris hand painted the Thoth deck. They were full sized paintings before becoming a deck of tarot cards. He reversed a couple of the major arcana cards and that is what makes learning his style of tarot so hard. To learn his style of tarot, you all most have to forget everything you ever knew about the tarot to begin with. The 15 card spread he taught is an effective method of divination.

 

[Mike182]

wow, how did i miss this thread?

Do you find him a genius or just a arrogant man?
both.
Did he know what he was talking about?
yes - though with all writters, the following question should be "does anyone else know what he is talking about?" - but the answer to this would also be yes.
Have you read any of his books?
i've read the writtings on the law in "Gems from the Equinox"
Crowley has quite a Buddhist theme in his teachings on the law. he teaches a strong detatchment from the world through meditative techniques in order to take propper advantage of the world and the other people in it.
Do you know anything about the Ordo Templi Orientis?
i know some basic background stuff...
What books or music do you know that secretly deals with him?
i don't think any of
Was he, in your opinion, Pagan, Buddhist, or Satanic?
judging form his history in the Golden Dawn, i'd say he could fit into any number of religious lables. i would say he is Pagan, but then again, my definitions of what is and is not Paganism are very wide indeed. one could also make a claim to Chrisitan elements, a lot of the things Horus revealed to him and dictated to him for his book of the law are incredibly similar to things in the new testiment - i don't have any examples off hand, but i could probably find some.

Edit: Sorry, i meant to add that i'm not saying Buddhism looks to manipulate the world to what Buddhists want - that part is Crowley's
​

 

[Guitar's Cry]

A lot of Crowley's theories behind what magick is are really intelligently thought-out. I've read his Magick: In Theory and Practice and found it informative, though much of it revealed truths personal to him, and not necessarily universal.

He was an interesting man, certainly.

 

[lilithu]

Hi Mike, namaste.

Crowley has quite a Buddhist theme in his teachings on the law. he teaches a strong detatchment from the world through meditative techniques in order to take propper advantage of the world and the other people in it.

Edit: Sorry, i meant to add that i'm not saying Buddhism looks to manipulate the world to what Buddhists want - that part is Crowley's

The parts in bold to me are more than enough to disqualify Crowley as being any kind of Buddhist. There's no doubt that he was well-read and knew a lot about a lot of different relgigous traditions. But his whole approach to life went directly against the basic tenets of Buddhism.

judging form his history in the Golden Dawn, i'd say he could fit into any number of religious lables. i would say he is Pagan, but then again, my definitions of what is and is not Paganism are very wide indeed. one could also make a claim to Chrisitan elements, a lot of the things Horus revealed to him and dictated to him for his book of the law are incredibly similar to things in the new testiment - i don't have any examples off hand, but i could probably find some.

So what's your definition of Paganism? I guess I don't have a very definite definition but to me Paganism necessarily suggests some element of an earth-centered approach to things. At the very least, a respect for the earth. No?

The Judeo-Christian influence is very strong in Golden Dawn, so yes I would absolutely agree with you there. In fact, at the time when I looked into Ceremonial Magick, it was all the talk of angels and such that turned me off. Now I wouldn't have any problem with the angel talk but I no longer have an interest in manipulating the world to match my will. Go figure.
​

 

[Mike182]

one of these days, i will actually look up what "namaste" means

Hi Mike, namaste.

The parts in bold to me are more than enough to disqualify Crowley as being any kind of Buddhist. There's no doubt that he was well-read and knew a lot about a lot of different relgigous traditions. But his whole approach to life went directly against the basic tenets of Buddhism.

oh deffinatley, Crowley was never Buddhist, but his methodes were on the same lines. i can remember going to my friends house after a Buddhism lecture at uni one day, to read her copy of "Gems from the Equinox", and with Buddhism fresh in my mind there were a lot of comparisons to be made in the way Crowley approached detatchment, but his motives were deffinatley at odds with Buddhist teachings!

So what's your definition of Paganism? I guess I don't have a very definite definition but to me Paganism necessarily suggests some element of an earth-centered approach to things. At the very least, a respect for the earth. No?​

i've debated this for weeks and weeks in the Pagan Society at uni, the only thing we can all agree on is "self labled, personal religion", or rather, "anyone who wants to call themselves Pagan should be accepted as a Pagan". some Pagan spiritualities are concerned only with supernatural entities and spirits, and don't give any concern to the earth at all.

i'm not sure if Crowley would have labled himself as Pagan, i suspect he would probably have just called himself some sort of occultist
​

 

[Mike182]

He was an interesting man, certainly.

interesting? that's such a great word!

i'm doing a presentation of Crowley next week, i'm including a sock puppet re-enactment of some of the events in Crowley's life, like the summoning of angles and deamons to wage war in the astral realms over a law suite, and the invocation of Horus in Egypt, and even the sex magics/rituals!

 

[lilithu]

one of these days, i will actually look up what "namaste" means

Nama(s) = I bow (more literally, I negate my own ego)
te = towards you

Namaste = I pay respect to the divine that is within you.

Namaste Mike. :bow: