Aleister Crowley > Scarlet Women

Rose Kelly

<< < (5/5)

graspee:

--- Quote from: "Alex_Bennett" ---It's the smack addict, wife beater who abandoned all his children I have a small problem with (please don't apologise for him).
--- End quote ---


I find it offensive that you use "smack addict" to attack Crowley's character in this way. He was prescribed that heroin for asthma- it was quite legal and obviously encouraged by doctors for certain conditions at that time. Yes, he became addicted to it, but anyone would, and Crowley managed to beat that addiction after a while because of the strength of his character. He was prescribed heroin again for his asthma later in life and so took it again, but by then he was an old man.

Notice I'm not denying that Crowley was addicted to heroin, I just find offensive your use of the term "smack addict" to attack his character.


edit: I'm sorry for bumping this thread, I see now that it's very old. I'm pretty sure it was on the first page of the scarlet women subforum when I looked at it though.

Alex_Bennett:
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.

Aleister Crowley had a Harley Street doctor and due to a legal loophole in British medical law, they are allowed to prescribe whatever their patient wants and not get prosecuted for it. Certain very wealthy playboy aristocrats to this day allegedly get their heroine and cocaine legally from Harley Street doctors and are beyond reproach due to this this very old institutions special status.

Crowley took many drugs and heroine on and off  for a lot of his adult life. All that is irelivent to my point though. I was saying and still assert than many people make excuses for Crowley whilst condeming his women for lesser selfish or debauched acts than him. Rose Kelly is to my mind an extremely important Thelemite (on a par with him even) and yet she rarely gets any mention other than she was his wife. I don't object to Crowley taking heroine even, rather his signing the form to have his wife locked up in a mental asylum for years for just being an alcoholic (and a woman), that I think was cowardly and hypocritical. That's my point. It was fine for him to be an alcoholic, cheat on her all the time and take tons of drugs but even though The Book Of The Law instructed her to worship Hadit (with wine and drugs I suspect) and cheat on him back, he did all in his power to make sure she didn't and even had her imprissoned in effect. I know he was an Edwardian and it would have showed him up as a man far worse back then but you have to admit at least a bit of double standards. He condemed her for losing their baby in China to colera, when he had abandoned her there to go to California simply to shag someone else, not caring how she got back to Scotland. The poor girl didn't stand much of a chance to start with but he made sure he held the upper hand and then he goes on to say in Magick Without Tears that the battle of the sexes is an illusion, perhaps he only meant as long as he was winning it.

Love is the law, love under will.

Alex

graspee:
I don't believe it's hypocrisy. I think you have to look at the ability of Crowley and the ability of Rose to function when on their various substances. In my view, Crowley was able to function within society and be responsible (such as he ever was) on his, whereas Rose could not. I realise that the only information I have is what they and other people wrote about them and it's filtered through them and biased, but that is what I believe.

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[*] Previous page