Shiva, I want to commend you for dealing with my ignorance. Modern academia can be full of shit. I've been reviewing my book that was based on Hancock's/Duvall's work. I am not a knee-jerk Dawkinsesque materialist idiot. There do appear to be serious anomalies and distortions in the prevailing timeline of academia. I started tripping when I adorned a dolphin-necklace in my younger days. The materialist viewpoint is basically evil and it's roots are in the same tradition as the Abrahamic/Jehova based "religions" of mono-theism. Newton was a die hard alchemist but he kept it secret. Jehova was a false god and Lucifer the liberator.

Colin: [psychedelics] also leave behind no hangover ...

, Like most of his work (as a researcher who relies on hearsay), he apparently never took a full dose of any substance he mentioned.

Aquino: Satanists generally frown upon drug use ...

It seems like "Satanists" are fluffy woo-woo weenies.
Rx drugs may, can, and often will, interfere with mental processes.
Psychedelics will "blow one's mind," but afterward (after returning from nirvana) one's mind is spectacularly lucid.
These Set guys are either connecting invisible dots or their position(s) have not been fully quoted or explained or they're just plain olde medico-legally insane.

Don't be confused. It's the physical body that carries a hangover. These libations, if taken in full-dosage, put quite a strain on our corpus.

WRWB: This guy being “consecrated by Set, as the second incarnation of the Beast 666 (as prophecised by Crowley in The Book Of The Law , would make the teachings deriving from him, or through him, an updatetversion of the Thelema you’re more interested in.

Oh, give me/us a break and pass the ammunition, um, mescaline.

D: Jehova[h] was a false god and Lucifer the liberator.

IHVH was a minor tribal deity. Somehow he got elevated and mixed up with the guy who spoke to Moses, saying his name was "I Am." (Not "I was" haha). Middle-Ages (and later?) biblical scholars mis-translated IHVH as "Yahweh," which is still a common usage today in some circles. AC told us that IHVH was pretty bad (Satanic?), what with his commanding the rape of virgins and the sacrifice of children. Jehovah's Witnesses seem to be permanently warped and bent.

At least "I Am" comes closer to the mark. That is, "I Am" is the first spark of awareness, universally spread out and perceived by all sentient entities. "I Am" could be equated to Hadit, but this is tricky as Hadit claims to be "not." Well, he used the term "I Am" many times in AL II, so there's some kind of link here.

Try it. Focus your mind on the "I Am" concept. Sure enough, "You Are." But then finish the sentence, i.e., "I Am ... (what?). I Am stupid ... smart ... white ... black ... etc. All answers lead further into duality. "For I am perfect, being not" gives us a clue as to why we can never really identify our original, primordial state, but it might get us into nirvana through the side door.

Lucifer is a code-name for every one of us. We are all "The Man {Woman} who Fell to Earth."

These "Satanists" are the real wacko idiot clowns. Not that coming to terms with our shadow-id-devil-deller-dark side isn't productive and necessary, but dressing up in black clothes with white collars and pearl necklaces is kinda weird.

Every Dominus Liminis who makes it through Paroketh to Tiphareth has successfully equilibrated the shadow-dweller with the angel on the threshold. So it seems the Temple of Set is just another Outer Order.

We are all eagerly awaiting the decoded message of RPSTOVAL.

According to The Secret History of the world (a great book about the mystery schools and their traditions throughout time) Akhenaten took the throne in 1321 BC at the beginning of "a Sothic cycle" a very significant time which always heralded a new age (every 1,460 years) however the author views him as potentially "disrupt(ing) the whole progress of human evolution". As you probably know, Akhenaten attempted to uproot the spiritual heritage of Egyptian civilization. His first major action was to construct and dedicate a temple to Aten, god of the Sun disk. He also shifted the centre of power from Karnak to a different region where he wanted his new cult to flourish. He declared that Aten was the only one true god. Festivals and worship of Isis and Osiris and Amen-Re were banned.

The entire project smacks of megalomaniacal unbalance. He withdrew more and more from the political realities of the day. Ultimately the disturbing aspect was the worship of the physical Sun and his push towards suppression of polytheism. In other words it was an attempt at forcing a wholly materialistic anti-spiritual reality upon others which encourages a denial of disembodied intelligence. In the mystery tradition he is apparently viewed as a tool of the evil Satan (not Lucifer) i.e Seth, who seeks to destroy human spirituality.

On his death, his priests were rounded up, Thebes was restored and Tutankhamun took the throne.

p235 The Secret History of the world Jonathan Black.

I worked out the beginning of the last two Sothic cycles (139 AD) and then 1599 A.D. The coming of Christ and "the enfleshment" of the divine is particular to western culture and allowed us to intensely manipulate and disrespect nature compared to Oriental cultures. In other words our One God entered the material world and we were traditionally more outward looking and open to scientific study and reductionism thereby.

The next Sothic cycler began in 1599 A.D. The 17th century was frankly, the century which put the last nail in the coffin of alchemy and saw total empowerment given to the modern materialistic reductionist movements. Apart from the rise of Descartes we had

1608 - Invention of the telescope
1609 – Johannes Kepler: first two laws of planetary motion
1610 – Galileo Galilei: Sidereus Nuncius: telescopic observations
1614 – John Napier: use of logarithms for calculation[5]
1619 - Johannes Kepler: third law of planetary motion
1628 – Willebrord Snellius: the law of refraction also known as Snell's law
1628 – William Harvey: Blood circulation
1638 - Galileo Galilei: laws of falling body
1643 – Evangelista Torricelli invents the mercury barometer
1662 – Robert Boyle: Boyle's law of ideal gas
1665 – Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society first peer reviewed scientific journal published.
1665 - Robert Hooke: discovers the cell
1668 – Francesco Redi: disproved idea of spontaneous generation
1669 – Nicholas Steno: Proposes that fossils are organic remains embedded in layers of sediment, basis of stratigraphy
1669 – Jan Swammerdam: epigenesis in insects
1672 – Sir Isaac Newton: discovers that white light is a spectrum of a mixture of distinct coloured rays
1673 - Christiaan Huygens: first study of oscillating system and design of pendulum clocks
1675 – Leibniz, Newton: infinitesimal calculus
1675 – Anton van Leeuwenhoek: observes microorganisms by microscope
1676 – Ole Rømer: first measurement of the speed of light
1687 – Sir Isaac Newton: classical mathematical description of the fundamental force of universal gravitation and the three physical laws of motion

D: {Ank's] entire project smacks of megalomaniacal unbalance.

Yeah. Sort of like AC and his attitude towards Xtianity (whose day is today).

On his death, his priests were rounded up, Thebes was restored and Tutankhamun took the throne.

He died young. The Khemish CIA probably assassinated him. His kid, Tut, died even earlier. It's always best to stamp out the whole bloodline.

The coming of Christ ...

You mean that Jesus myth? Interesting how he was conveniently born on the Winter Solstice, when the Sun is "reborn." But the dildos can't keep a calendar straight, so now his birthday is 4 days late, thus proving the truth of the spiritual con <haha> or is it <heruhaha>? There were also Osiris and Mithras who both were resurrected ... a lot earlier

... and “the enfleshment” of the divine is particular to western culture and allowed us to intensely manipulate and disrespect nature compared to Oriental cultures.

No dissent there. Except maybe that those Oriental Templars, um, Emperors were considered to be gods.

However, note that Moshe was pushing the one god deal a lot earlier. But no divine incarnation in his paradigm.

The next Sothic cycler began in 1599 A.D.

Yeah. Things (inventions) started moving pretty fast just about then.

The next Sothic cycler began in 1599 A.D.
Yeah. Things (inventions) started moving pretty fast just about then.

Yes the new world of mechanistic reductionism. The death knell to alchemy (and it's replacement by modern chemistry) I spoke of earlier is documented here in more detail. Hennig Brand was an alchemist searching for gold in no more than his own urine, boiled. He deducted that, hey it's golden in colour sort of so why not evaporate it and see what happens? Instead he stumbled upon the discovery of what was to be known as Phosphorus and the embryonic stirrings of what would soon become the new elemental table was underway. In other words, goodbye to Fire Air Water and Earth;

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phosphorus

The discovery of phosphorus, the first element to be discovered that was not known since ancient times,[40] is credited to the German alchemist Hennig Brand in 1669, although other chemists might have discovered phosphorus around the same time.[41] Brand experimented with urine, which contains considerable quantities of dissolved phosphates from normal metabolism.[13] Working in Hamburg, Brand attempted to create the fabled philosopher's stone through the distillation of some salts by evaporating urine, and in the process produced a white material that glowed in the dark and burned brilliantly. It was named phosphorus mirabilis ("miraculous bearer of light").[42]
Brand's process originally involved letting urine stand for days until it gave off a terrible smell. Then he boiled it down to a paste, heated this paste to a high temperature, and led the vapours through water, where he hoped they would condense to gold. Instead, he obtained a white, waxy substance that glowed in the dark. Brand had discovered phosphorus. We now know that Brand produced ammonium sodium hydrogen phosphate, (NH
4)NaHPO
4. While the quantities were essentially correct (it took about 1,100 litres [290 US gal] of urine to make about 60 g of phosphorus), it was unnecessary to allow the urine to rot. Later scientists discovered that fresh urine yielded the same amount of phosphorus

"Wilson concludes this book by discussing the different functions of the left and right brain. He concludes that rogue messiahs abuse the powers of the subconscious mind through self-persuasion and that the phenomenon is an example of the evolutionary urge gone wrong. He is of the opinion that the proper application of these powers is positive and may represent an upward step in mankind's psychological evolution (source: Riveting read but flawed study By Peter UysHALL OF FAME on August 9, 2006 --- https://www.amazon.com/Rogue-Messiahs-Tales-Self-Proclaimed-Saviors/product-reviews/1571741755/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_hist_3?ie=UTF8&reviewerType=all_reviews&pageNumber=1&filterByStar=three_star#reviews-filter-bar) ."

"Colin's central thread in all his work is his conviction that humans are at the brink of an evolutionary leap that will make us more aware of our abilities, more conscious, more godlike in our powers. This conviction runs through all his work, which ranges from widely across disciplines. He is also an immensely talented novelist of ideas, writing science fiction, detective stories, fantasy, etc. -- all as a way of exploring the implications of his ideas. Rogue Messiahs is his exploration into the "why" of the cults that have defaced our time. And, typical of his multi-disciplinary approach, in this book he looks behind the headlines to explore what it might mean for us as a species. He is a great story-teller, and not the least of his talents is his ability to tie together subjects that at first glance have not much to do with each other. Reading his books is always an exercize in making unsuspected connections, so that even when you disagree with his conclusions you have profited from accompanying him on the journey (A word from the publisher By Frank DeMarcoon August 25, 2000 - https://www.amazon.com/Rogue-Messiahs-Tales-Self-Proclaimed-Saviors/product-reviews/1571741755/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_hist_5?ie=UTF8&reviewerType=all_reviews&pageNumber=1&filterByStar=five_star#reviews-filter-bar) ."

The preceding two quotes are from amazon.com reviews of Colin Wilson's book from 2000, Rogue Messiahs: Tales of Self-Proclaimed Saviors. ("In Rogue Messiahs, Colin Wilson compellingly recounts the stories and outrageous claims, acts, and abuses of 25 self-proclaimed messiahs who have arisen in the last 300 years. He uncovers the probable factors that turn earnest religious leaders, mystics, or well-intentioned cult leaders into violent, abusive, murderous, and paranoid rogue messiahs (source: https://www.amazon.com/Rogue-Messiahs-Tales-Self-Proclaimed-Saviors/dp/1571741755) .")

christibrany: "I am not a Crowley fan-boy by any means, I think his behaviour at times was deplorable, but I think the techniques and the Work speak for themselves."

Shiva: "There are some folks here connecting dots that were made with invisible ink. Sgt Friday always said, “Just the facts, ma’m.” Thank the dwarves that Chris summed it up: Deplorable persona, great work."

A major problem with Colin Wilson's work as a researcher who relies on hearsay, is him focusing on the bad hearsay about a particular individual, or the bad reputation of a particular individual, at the expense of focusing on the value of this particular individual's work.

dom (first post in this thread): “Colin Wilson’s “Aleister Crowley: The Nature of the Beast“. A document of a well balanced perspective or a prejudiced and opinionated critique by an ignoramus?”

A major problem with Colin Wilson’s work as a researcher who relies on hearsay, is him focusing on the bad hearsay about a particular individual, or the bad reputation of a particular individual, at the expense of focusing on the value of this particular individual’s work.

Wilson was a self-taught criminologist so he specialized in finding faults with people's personalities. This means he had a field day in his Crowley bio.

p72; He says it's impossible to take Crowley seriously when he stated that Liber Al supplants all previous religions and the proof of it's authenticity is within itself. He says some of the book is just Crowley in DeSade mode and is nothing to do with extra terrestrial intelligence. He ridicules AC's advice to burn the copy and on p73 suggest that AC was duped by Aiwaz in being told that his "death would be lovely". He claims that AC's death was anything but lovely. Somehow Wilson knows the inner experience of AC as he passed. Wilson fails to mention AC's greatest contribution here ie his scientific scepticism and his disgust for the gullibility inherent in the prevailing spiritualist movements.

In fact he views Liber Al as being part of AC's personal plan to usurp Mathers and amazingly for a guy of his academic credentials he makes the debased common mistake of reading DWTW as being do what you want. This all compels him to dispute the preaterhuman nature of Aiwaz. Cleary his research into Crowley's inner life is quite flawed, he obviously did not bother to study the technical libri of Crowley's A'A' and the overall tone of the book basically veers towards cheap sensationalism and a misguided preoccupation with AC's human character flaws. He even slams Regardie for apparently cashing in on AC's newfound fame circa the Beatles Sgt. Pepper album cover.

On p78 Wilson states that Crowley's weakness was laziness. Imagine that. He documents his sex-life and drug taking if you're interested. Furthermore his entire narrative is based around AC'S apparent constant search for a new "father figure". Then again I guess it isn't a serious study of Thelema so what did I expect from this book?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGpBUCjH950

Within my REPLY #102874 to this thread, is is stated that Colin Wilson concludes that rogue messiahs abuse the powers of the subconscious mind through self-persuasion and that the phenomenon is an example of the evolutionary urge gone wrong.

Crowley does in his book Magick in Theory and Practice, Chapter 2 The Formulae Of The Elemental Weapons, warn against the human mind as "the great enemy":

“The mind is the great enemy; so, by invoking enthusiastically a person whom we know not to exist [= the “Holy Guardian Angel” which is merely a convention, a symbol for one's True Self], we are rebuking that mind.”

In his The Book of Wisdom or Folly, chapter 130 “De Ratione Praesidio Voluntatis (On Reason, the Minister of the Will)”, Crowley warns against one being dominated by one's mind, when it is really merely "a faithful Minister to thine own True Will", "For the Mind is sensitive, unstable as Air".

“Here is the Key of Success, and its Name is the Skill to make right Use of Circumstance. This, then is the Virtue of the Mind, to be the Wazir of the Will, a true Counsellor, through Intelligence of the Universe. But o, my Son, do thou lay this Word beneath thine Heart, that the Mind hath no Will, nor Right thereto, so the Usurpation bringeth forth a fatal Conflict in thyself. For the Mind is sensitive, unstable as Air, and may be led foolishly in leash by a stronger Mind that worketh as the cunning Tool of a Will. Therefore thy Safety and Defence is to hold thy Mind to his right Function, a faithful Minister to thine own True Will, but Election of Nature.”

Within my REPLY #102874 to this thread, it is also stated that "his conviction that humans are at the brink of an evolutionary leap that will make us more aware of our abilities, more conscious, more godlike in our powers.", is Colin Wilson's "central thread in all his work".

Colin Wilson's just mentioned conviction, has resemblance to how something similar was a central thread in all Crowley's work, after the latter started working as a prophet on the basis of his own The Book of the Law.

My point is that it wouldn't have taken Colin Wilson much extra research in authoring his book Aleister Crowley: The Nature of the Beast, to find elements of Aleister Crowley's work that agreed with his own work. And for Colin Wilson to thus find elements within Crowley's work that would be worthwhile, according to Colin Wilson himself.

p72; He says it’s impossible to take Crowley seriously when he stated that Liber Al supplants all previous religions and the proof of it’s authenticity is within itself.

Well now, I would like to agree with AC; thus CW loses this point - in my opinion. Why?

AL promotes and confirms the individual as the primary unit of society, spiritual endeavor, and consciousness itself. "All previous religions" demand and supply an intermediary priest, or whatever he or she is called, who will: tell a follower what it's about - and how to think and behave, forgive their sins, promise instant transportation to paradise if one falls dead in holy war, and accept your tithe or donations. Salvation of one's soul varies, from accepting Jesus, or blessing Muhammad, to Ancestor Worship of the Orientals. You just can't make it into eternity without their help. You are too stupid. Somehow, they are qualified to plead your case with the divine forces (comic cosmic lawyers). This is the true "spiritual con game" in jts most blatant manifestation.

So, of course, a paradigm that sets aside all these "Religions of the Slave-Gods," and empowers a solo person, in the face of a controlling establishment figure or system, supersedes all previous systems ... and that would be globally extant ... including the communist Chinese, the dome in Rome, the TV evangelists, the Islamic Jihad, etc.

Taoism is exempt as it predates (in consciousness, not necessarily in time) these other systems, and Siddhartha's actual (original) system of mental control over desire can be partially exempted, but that quickly evolved (degenerated) into moral codes, practices the Buddha never knew about, and [gasp] praying to Buddha for intercession in one's woes.

Study of AL may or may not reveal internal proof of authenticity, but reading the Commentaries and Confessions will point even the dullest dullard toward the specific internal correlations.

The destruction of AL immediately after the first reading is the greatest and funniest "first test" or "first hurdle" that I can imagine, in this - my hour of need.. Anyone taking that injunction seriously is obviously too superstitious, or too timid, or too [insert your own defect] to stand up to the rigours of the path ... and so they should burn it quickly and run back to the comfort of their slave-master.

CW has discussed the contents of AL (not that we all haven't done the same), and not in a friendly manner. He is therefore, ipso facto, a Centre of Pestilence.

WRWB quotes AC: “The mind is the great enemy; so, by invoking enthusiastically a person whom we know not to exist [= the “Holy Guardian Angel” which is merely a convention, a symbol for one’s True Self], we are rebuking that mind.”

There we have it in a pea-shell. This [^] statement sums up and resolves many threads that ran on for 40 days and 40 pages.

CW has discussed the contents of AL (not that we all haven’t done the same), and not in a friendly manner. He is therefore, ipso facto, a Centre of Pestilence.

I hear that. I doubt that Wilson's work will have any long standing endurance. He will probably be wiped out of history in a century or so.

@dom

I doubt that Wilson’s work will have any long standing endurance. He will probably be wiped out of history in a century or so.

Perhaps it will endure, perhaps not. It's a small proportion of writers, artists, poets, sculptors etc whose work does endure. Perhaps his work will influence the work of someone else who does endure.

Does it really matter whether someone's reputation as a writer endures for a hundred or several hundred years or more? Whether a decade, a hundred years, several hundred years, several thousand years, they are going to be forgotten eventually.

As a matter of interest, how can anybody be "wiped out of history", given that by history you mean the past?

Does it really matter whether someone’s reputation as a writer endures for a hundred or several hundred years or more? Whether a decade, a hundred years, several hundred years, several thousand years, they are going to be forgotten eventually.

The crowned and conquering child. Does that matter to you? I'm with Shiva, this guy was a centre of pestilence.

@dom

The crowned and conquering child. Does that matter to you?

What on earth has this got to do with the passage in my post to which it is supposedly a reply? What on earth does it mean anyway?

I’m with Shiva, this guy was a centre of pestilence.

Oh god, I think Shiva's remark was intended to be ironic, but never mind dear - whatever floats your boat. I think Colin Wilson wrote many interesting books and novels, notwithstanding that in my opinion he got it wrong with his study of Crowley. A few years ago I was at a conference where he was the headline speaker; he gave a fascinating talk for a couple of hours, entirely without notes, let alone Powerpoint. If he was indeed a centre of pestilence, then it's perhaps not a bad thing to be.

Wilson is not likely to be forgotten very soon - in fact a renaissance is just beginning. A British university has recently acquired his huge archive, to be housed next to their DH Lawrence collection. There will be another international Wilson Conference next year after last years' successful one. He remains very respected in Japan, Russia and the Middle East. Despite the five decades long (and posthumous) attempts by establishment critics in his homeland to destroy him for the twin crimes of being working class and autodidactic he still has a very wide readership over various apparently unconnected disciplines. A Hong Kong based academic noted at last years' conference that Wilson was one of the only philosophers to merge both logical positivism and phenomenological existentialism (which are mutually antagonistic). The Speculative Realist school - which has now usurped postmodernism in most intellectual circles - is essentially his mid sixties Husserl/Lovecraft philosophical chimera reborn for the digital age. He pioneered modern true crime writing. He revived many forgotten writers and thinkers from Hesse through to Lindsay, and his own fiction is currently being reappraised. He was perhaps the only person in the mainstream to favorably review Kenneth Grant's work in the early seventies. And Grant would speak of a faculty in his later trilogies which is identical to the concept that Wilson elaborated in 1971 from his original meditations on Husserl and Brentano in 1965/'66 (see Grant's MZ p. 2, OG p. 40, OtCoT pp. 116, and therein p. 54 for a discussion of 'mind vampires' and pessimism). There are many more. Also note Wilson's comparing of Husserl and Crowley the next time you read THEOREM (1) from MTP.
You'd be best off trying to understand his stance on Crowley in NotB by reading up on Wilson's concept of Existential Literary Criticism - and bear in mind his War Against Sleep is not popular with those in 'The Work'. His output can only be appreciated by reading all his major texts and putting those seemingly unrelated pieces together, not by reading one or two in your favorite topic and then dismissing it. Specialism may be impressive on the surface, but not in the depths.
If you'd like to know who the "somebody or other" is who wrote the story of the postman quoted in Book 4 Ch. 6 the answer is on p. 48 of Wilson's Introduction to the New Existentialism. From that book, p. 64 -
"Both Husserl and Heidegger felt that the phenomenological quest would give man the possibility of 'mystical' experience without the need for specifically Christian of Yogic disciplines. Husserl said that the study of intentionality in action would lead towards the 'keepers of the keys of being' (a thoroughly Heideggerian phrase) and to the 'unveiling of the hidden achievements of the transcendental ego'." You can argue about terms but bear in mind Wilson was adamant that intuition is the mark of greatness, not logic.
Wilson was a remarkable and original intellect for someone who was self taught. He also displayed huge generosity - ask anyone who met him. Ignoramus? Center of pestilence?! Oh dear.

@joe93

Wilson was a remarkable and original intellect for someone who was self taught. He also displayed huge generosity – ask anyone who met him. Ignoramus? Center of pestilence?! Oh dear.

This assessment is good to read, and I wholeheartedly agree.

and bear in mind his War Against Sleep is not popular with those in ‘The Work’.

I thought The War Against Sleep an excellent book which cut to the heart of Gurdjieff's work. What in your view are the reasons for its unpopularity with some?

I too enjoyed his book on Gurdjieff. I'm not sure why it's not too well regarded, only that I was told that by several people involved in 'the work'. I'm not involved in that so I wouldn't know. It could just be the regard of a specialist towards someone not regarded as such. For instance, Wilson invented the term 'Ripperology' but several experts in Ripper studies - not all of them though - do not regard his theories as valid.

Nice post joe93
“ (see Grant’s MZ p. 2, OG p. 40, OtCoT pp. 116, and therein p. 54 for a discussion of ‘mind vampires’ and pessimism).”

Which book is MZ ?

@Tiger

Which book is MZ ?

Beyond the Mauve Zone. The reference is probably to the first (1999) edition.

Thanks Michael

Yes, Beyond the Mauve Zone, first Starfire ed, 1999. "We have therefore to cultivate not a new power but a faculty that has remained dormant in the majority of individuals for a very long time." In OtCoT: "...it is the work of each individual so to cultivate those atennae that they respond to the slightest vibration from those 'other' times, those 'other' spaces..." OG (Skoob ed) p.40 - "... there is another faculty of human consciousness, the intuitive or 'inseeing' faculty." Wilson makes reference to his notion of Faculty X (the knowledge of the reality of other times and places) via the Gita - 'I am not here, neither am I elsewhere'.
The quote re 'mind vampires' is p. 54 of the Starfire reissue (p. 53 in the first Muller ed) in OtCoT. Grant writes - "Every negative thought that occurs signals a delay, if not an abortion of the processes of achieving that desire. Negative thoughts should be aborted, they are vampires feeding off the chittam, or mind stuff. The Will should be one-pointed in its determination to permit only positive thought, luminous thought, for by the projection of it's own light the Will is able to achieve all things."
Wilson's Mind Parasites (Arkham House, 1967) was a work of fiction, but was born out of this paragraph from his The New Existentialism - "To express this problem [of pessimism] in science fiction terms: it would seem that there is some mysterious agency that wishes to hold men back, to prevent them from gaining full use of their powers. It is as if man contained an invisible parasite, whose job it is to keep man unaware of his powers. Blake called this parasite 'the Spectre.'" (In the glossary to Outer Gateways, Grant defines Energy Spectre(s) as "Subconscious reflexes objectivised as non-terrestrial entities.") For Blake, the Spectre is the "reasoning power of man" in his prophetic books, or rationality by any other name. This is the "triviality of everydayness" of Heidegger, but for Wilson, "everyday consciousness is a liar." See also The Book of Lies, "which Thought is itself Untrue."

Can't argue with that praise for autodidactic working class boy Wilson.

Great posts joe93

My books have been buried for quite some time now .
It took me all afternoon to find Beyond The Mauve Zone .

Pages 1 & 2 were worth the afternoon effort .

J93: Wilson was adamant that intuition is the mark of greatness, not logic.

If this is true (and I don't know because I've not read his work), then I must say, "Well, he got that one right."

By the way, how did you get an "Avatar," when all us oldies only have Blue Squares with a letter in them? Oh, my intuition tells me you are New, and you just uploaded an Avatar, while the rest of us have been Erased from History.

The avatar? I never really noticed it - so much for intuition, eh. Maybe it's because I signed in via WordPress or something. I'm not new here, I just don't post much. I mostly check here for opinion and to see any sign of those mooted AC Diaries, unexpurgated 'Hag (the latter one of my all time favorite books) and other related info. I'm looking forward to those Selected Kenneth Grant Letters whenever they arrive.

WRWB quoted Therion earlier in this thread ("The mind is the great enemy ..."), and I commented upon it. But I was rather intrigued by it, and wanted to include it in my now in-progress book. So I looked it up, and herewith post it in a slightly larger scope, because it really cuts to the heart of the matter (the Great Work).

Let me declare this Work under this title: ‘The obtaining of the Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel’, because the theory implied in these words is so patently absurd that only simpletons would waste much time in analysing it. It would be accepted as a convention, and no one would incur the grave danger of building a philosophical system upon it. With this understanding, we may rehabilitate the Hebrew system of invocations. The mind is the great enemy; so, by invoking enthusiastically a person whom we know not to exist, we are rebuking that mind. Yet we should not refrain altogether from philosophising in the light of the Holy Qabalah. We should accept the Magical Hierarchy as a more or less convenient classification of the facts of the Universe as they are known to us; and as our knowledge and understanding of those facts increase, so should we endeavour to adjust our idea of what we mean by any symbol.
- Book 4 - Part III. New York: Castle Books 1929. Copyright today by OTO - to be released into the public domain in 4 days!

Dom wrote: I’m with Shiva, this guy was a centre of pestilence.

MS replied: Oh god, I think Shiva’s remark was intended to be ironic ...

I think the synonym "sarcastic" is more appropriate. If Wilson really were pestilent, then he'd need to be quarantined, his books burned, and his assets confiscated.

MS: Wilson wrote many interesting books and novels, notwithstanding that in my opinion he got it wrong with his study of Crowley.

Yes, and that "getting it wrong" is what this thread is about. His "other books" are not part of the subject matter of this thread. I hear some of them are good, but I cannot comment thereupon as I have not read any of them.

MS: ... he gave a fascinating talk for a couple of hours, entirely without notes, let alone Powerpoint.
and
(There was mention somewhere of his "generous" nature ... but I can't find it).

I hesitate to point it out, but it must be said: Public speaking without Powerpoint and personal generosity indicate certain, potentially positive qualities in Wilson's persona, but they are irrelevant in the light of an assessment of The Nature of the Beast

So he was a nice guy who spoke well? Okay. Personally, I'm not a fan of AC's persona ("the demon Crowley"), and will often cite his outer nastiness - so there's no favoritism here. However, Wilson simply should not have slammed AL without knowing what he was writing about.

J93: The avatar? I never really noticed it

Well, I did. I find my Avatar on my Profile page, but no longer within the forums. I noticed a login box in the forum pages (seemingly impossible), but now it's gone. The Forum search box seems to have disappeared. Strange things are happening. This post actually belongs under ADMIN, but here it is ... because I'm too confused to navigate properly. Heruhaha, help me now and in my hour of need (which is also now).

I now return your mind (the great enemy) to Colin Wilson's (not so good) book.

Admittedly Wilson tries to conflate DWTW with do what you want however he stresses that one needs discipline for it to be realistic. Like I said he seemed to skim over the discipline involved in AC's instructions for candidates. Ok Wilson was brilliant but the book discussed in this thread,not so brilliant.

I've completed this book.

The summation is pretty good, Wilson has interesting and positive things to say about Jung, synchronicity and magic and AC. Wilson, a criminologist, basically categorizes Crowley as a criminal type. He states that AC, amongst other criminal acts, would excrete on people's carpets. However he does describe Crowley as a first class writer albeit generally unrecognized in that capacity.

p155

@dom

However he does describe Crowley as a first class writer albeit generally unrecognized in that capacity.

I don't think he's "generally unrecognzed". I've always regarded Crowley as being one of the best writers in the English language, and I think many other admirers of Crowley's work feel similarly.

Besides a few obvious suspects, there's not really that much consensus about who the "first class" writers are. For instance, I consider the late Helen Dunmore one of the best, but few seem to share my opinion.

If you read Wilson's bio in a short space of time the general narrative reads something like well-travelled brewery-heir Cambridge graduate, prostitute-addicted failed poet shit-eating self-appointed spiritual guru-pervert, fame-craving poverty-stricken mountaineer chess enthusiast constantly 'borrowed' money from disciples in order to survive, had a lot of very nutty alcoholic suicidal girlfriends/boyfriends, oh and he wanted to be John Dee albeit on coke and opium, had a neo pagan religious text apparently telepathically dictated to him, would've been generally forgotten but then along came Leary, The Beatles and "the hippies"(and Zeppelin- my edit).

The references to AC'S ideas and writings are just too brief to be a decent analysis imo.

Not a bad summary of AC's life actually, but as you say leaves out why we still care about the man: his work.

.....particularly his scientific attitude.

Apparently he predicted when Loveday would die exactly via a horoscope.

When as an old man he was asked about astrology he said it is 1% accurate.

Ha!

Just constant now you see it now you don't through his entire existence.

J93: The avatar? I never really noticed it

Shiva: Well, I did. I find my Avatar on my Profile page, but no longer within the forums. I noticed a login box in the forum pages (seemingly impossible), but now it’s gone. The Forum search box seems to have disappeared. Strange things are happening. This post actually belongs under ADMIN, but here it is … because I’m too confused to navigate properly. Heruhaha, help me now and in my hour of need (which is also now).

Shiva - If you go to https://en.gravatar.com/ and select Create Your Own Gravatar, use the email address associated with your lashtal account, and upload an image file, it will appear above your name when you post. It does appear some other functionality has disappeared from the site (or at least my account functionality) like private messaging, and the ability to change pictures internal to the site associated with one's account. I also can no longer change the user name associated with my account, and send, receive, or see any private messages.

It took about a minute or two to create a gravatar avatar.

jg: – If you go to https://en.gravatar.com/ and select Create Your Own Gravatar ...

This is very exciting, or is it exiting? It's sort of like breaking into your neighbor's house, when he has already previously given you a key. It's like hacking in to your own account, which seems to be a daily necessity in one place or another.

It took me at least 45 minutes just to redesign my HD avatar picture.

Then, after enrolling in the Borg-derived WordPress (a pact withe devil, to be sure), I zapped the UPLOAD button on the slick Gravitar Creation Page. It said ...

Whoops! Something went wrong!

Thanks for the info and the link. I'll work on it some more ... later.

93’s everyone

I am terribly sorry for posting off topic but I have no idea how to work/ navigate the site and I can’t find a way to send PM’s.

Shiva I was scrolling through google and your name popped up I was searching for some info but saw you live in Los Lunas. That is a where I am currently residing myself and was curious if you could send me an email and we could possibly chat. My email is
volonoscere@icloud.com

Again apologies for the introusion and I hope to hear from you soon

93 93/93

I am terribly sorry for posting off topic but I have no idea how to work/ navigate the site and I can’t find a way to send PM’s.

Private Messages have been disabled on this site as a result of repeated complaints of abuse of the facility.

In regards to Joe 93's quote from Grant I want to start a thread because it's fascinating:
'“Every negative thought that occurs signals a delay, if not an abortion of the processes of achieving that desire. Negative thoughts should be aborted, they are vampires feeding off the chittam, or mind stuff. The Will should be one-pointed in its determination to permit only positive thought, luminous thought, for by the projection of it’s own light the Will is able to achieve all things.”'

So I will start one now in the Grant forum and hope you all participate to let me feed on your wisdom like the mind-sucking vampire I am 😉

thanks Joe that's fascinating and as we all know Grant is so dense (lol pun) Grant's work is so dense that one misses such gems from time to time.

quote by the silent one

I’m sorry for my inappropriate use of language, dom. I thought “Have you stopped beating your wife yet?” was a well-known rhetorical phrase in response to what was seen as a loaded question. On reflection, the polarity between “well balanced perspective” and “a prejudiced and opinionated critique by an ignoramus” is not one which merits that particular rhetorical device I employed, so consider it withdrawn, with my apologies for the offence caused.

so, not the same as flogging a dead horse then? a "well balanced perspective of "beating your wife"
one would aspire to treat women with respect if one had been treated respect as a child. Mostly one who has been flogged like a dead horse or witnessed a parental unit flogging his treasured one learns by experience, learning that women are there to be flogged and stood over. Few wife beaters examine the whys of why nor attempt to overcome environment and better ones self to love "why bother changing when there is a wife to take it out on".

Of the three options mentioned after reflection three options,

1, Opinionated victim of violence opinionated and irate to the point of letting ones history define and therefore becoming eternal victim
2, Ignorant = one who has not experienced and hides in the bubble protected from the bad things and therefore will sprout ignorant opinions when faced with something out of their bubble
3, well balanced = experienced in said subject matter but able to sit back in hindsight ponder reflect and reason whys

Im claiming number 3

In my opinion there are clear affinities, but Crowley is not describing quite the same thing. In the passage you quoted from the commentaries, Crowley is talking about, if you like, focus. That self-discipline, that will, still comes from personality.

Gurdjieff’s approach seems to me different. He would direct his pupils to perform menial tasks, but with attention, without slipping into the fug of dreaming, memory, reflection, habit-patterns etc in which we are habitually immersed during our “waking” hours; in other words, to wake up from dreaming. One of the best books I have read on the subject of Gurdjieff is by Coilin Wilson, The War Against Sleep.

must read putting it on my large reading list ... thank you.

Some of you may find this interesting to say the least. First time I've seen a Colin Wilson interview.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9C-syWXNT9U&t=4376s