Just a silly little thing.
https://kids.kiddle.co/Aleister_Crowley
'Aleister Crowley facts for kids'.
Other pages of interest are
https://kids.kiddle.co/Thelema
https://kids.kiddle.co/Ordo_Templi_Orientis
https://kids.kiddle.co/A∴A∴ with links to various lineages
It makes me think about all those picture-book biographies for children. For example:
You have to wonder when Crowley will get his own.
I followed out the Kiddy-link to the A.'.A.'.. On that page, some of the sites are gone, but on the last link, at the end of some section in the curriculum it said ...
"After a year of probation he may be admitted a Neophyte of A∴A∴, and receive the secret holy book Liber VII."
It is admirable that this lineage is able to retain the ancient words, encased in stone, and use them to imply the existence of a "secret" book, one which almost every reader of these forum pages has in his or her collection, or has read it online.
This is similar to AC's gripe with the G.D., that they gave him a "secret" list of the correspondences of the Hebrew alphabet with numbers ... the same info that was publickly available over at the British Museum.
Think of the publicity. The thing would market itself.
a "secret" book, one which almost every reader of these forum pages has in his or her collection, or has read it online.
Maybe it's the lineal reception and not the book itself that's seen as significant.
Maybe it's the lineal reception and not the book itself that's seen as significant.
Maybe it's copying the words as they received them, then passing them on to others, without noting that their special secret book is not secret, but as common as the NY Times.
I happen to have some experience with the specific lineage from which I grabbed that short quote. Their curriculum is presented as a menu, from which the asprirants's "Master" picks and chooses. As one primary example: Candidates are passed through the 1=10 degree without designing or making a disk. The words up front are the same old words posted at the entry gate of all the lineages. The application of those words is lacking in application.
Maybe it's copying the words as they received them, then passing them on to others, without noting that their special secret book is not secret, but as common as the NY Times.
So the secret of the IX° isn't a secret either, and Frater Glycon 11°=-1□ receiving it in full ceremony is no different than Joe Everyman 0°≠0□ reading a summary online.
I happen to have some experience with the specific lineage from which I grabbed that short quote.
Is there a story here? Extramagicular activities at the collegiate level?
I steer clear of societies, secret or otherwise, and prefer someone to be dead for a century or two (preferably a few millennia) before he tries to teach me anything.
[I] prefer someone to be dead for a century or two (preferably a few millennia) before he tries to teach me anything.
If by a few then, you mean "three and above" (i.e., as opposed to just "a millennium or two"), whom did you have in mind? And did he/she/they succeed in managing to teach you anything, as opposed to just "trying to"?
Just curious,
NormaN joy Conquest
So the secret of the IX° isn't a secret either, and Frater Glycon 11°=-1□ receiving it in full ceremony is no different than Joe Everyman 0°≠0□ reading a summary online.
Yeah, the IX* was unwrapped quite a few years ago, which effectively cut the string holding the carrot. Yet the org still seems to draw candidates. Insiders have told me it really is a "fraternal" org, with ladies invited, that is a "lifestyle," rather than an elevator to higher consciousness. Sort of like a church, which disguised as a temple, they call "The Gnostic Catholic Church."
I would say that an intelligent person who has done a lot of practices, who reads the IX* online, will be just as efficient in its execution as one who pays the fees and dues and gets it formally.
I am not familiar with Frater Glycon or the 11=1 equation, nor with any ceremonies associated with such higher grades, and every anyman who is tuned to mystical prose might well appreciate it more than someone who got it handed to them.
Is there a story here? Extramagicular activities at the collegiate level?
Oh, I think I already told the story. To make it clearer: An A.'.A.'. Probationer was passed to Neophyte (in that lineage) without any reference to the Disk. No design was required, and no disk was required. Since this lineage is determined to represent itself as the original, in word and deed, I found it rather odd that a primary, elemental instrument would be set aside.
But then, this is a Motta-derived lineage. Once inside, the rules change.
I steer clear of societies, secret or otherwise ...
In general, this is a good policy. In my case, they came to me. Not with an invitation. I simply found myself right there in the formative stage of their externalization. The two "societies" i became enmeshed in were both reincarnations, emerging after a period of pralaya. They both served as perfect reflections for me of the invisible spectrum as portrayed in our cherished model of the Spheres and the Paths.
Being there at ground zero meant that I got to ride these blazing comets on the flight deck, so I wasn't some guy who knocked on the door and was admitted into the darkness.
I hasten to assure you that I entered the darkness at certain points. Just before my first initiation I must admit to a up-welling of fear. Assorted visions of what was to come were terrifying. But I was not shaking or sweating, or unhinged. I assume the fear was justified - the ego entering its own slaughterhouse is bound to get a bit upset.
After that, the ceremonial initiations were all part of the ongoing pageantry game, without a twittle of trepidation. I am no hero here, the others experienced the same thing.
There were also spells of inner darkness. Emotions other than fear get involved. I suppose the five phases (elements) might come up in some correlated order. I'm far too busy now to do it, so if the Qabalists want a quack crack at it, these are the (Oriental Medical) emotional causes of disease:
Water - Fear.
Aethyr - Anger (especially Rage).
Fire - Joy (to the point of Giddiness, "dingy").
Earth - Pensiveness (Introversion with excessive Thinking).
Air - Grief.
... and prefer someone to be dead for a century or two (preferably a few millennia) before he tries to teach me anything.
Well, yes, I can understand that. It cuts through any new-age tinsel and avoids many recent upstart religions from clouding the view. If these old-timers are writing about eternal truths, their view and message will be clear today. The only problem comes in, as it comes in even with contemporary saints, is that there are no absolute eternal truths, except one, that we can take to the bank.
whom did you have in mind?
He is a scholar in the ancient Greek tradition, and other cultures surrounding that era. I think he may have taken the Journey to the East and examined the Sufis. I'm sure he can be more specific, but his scholastic curriculum vitae was laid out somewhere around here, not long ago. He revealed his tutors and their space-time coordinates.
If by a few then, you mean "three and above" (i.e., as opposed to just "a millennium or two"), whom did you have in mind?
If you mean to imply there was no didactic literature three thousand or more years ago, I'll step over myself and say that how-to manuals and self help books were a favorite genre of Ancient Egyptians, and we've found most of those texts to date from the middle kingdom, which began four thousand years ago. Djedefhor, Kagemni and most famously Ptahhotep are a few names.
But we aren't interested in how to live righteously are we? On LAShTAL? No! We care about magic. But of course, we are all familiar with the instructional magico-religious texts e.g. the Book of Two Ways, the Book of Going Forth by Day and so on.
This leaves us with mythology and the symbolism-laden narrative texts like The Shipwrecked Sailor.
A favorite grouping of stories of mine comprises the Westcar Papyrus, which should interest any LAShTAL user.
Frater Glycon or the 11=1
It's a joke. Glycon was (supposedly) a handpuppet god that some silver-tongued prankster got people to worship back in the dark ages.
In my case, they came to me. Not with an invitation. I simply found myself right there in the formative stage of their externalization.
Did this happen on the road to Damascus? Damascus, California? A canticle for Shiva.
There were also spells of inner darkness.
Negative emotions deriving from initiations or mystical states are a phenomenon you see with Buddhism and Christianity (I think the Christian mystics call it transverberation). I cannot think of anyone having described it before the Aeon of Osiris.
But we aren't interested in how to live righteously are we? On LAShTAL? No! We care about magic.
I thought we cared about Aleister, who taught Magick and Raja Yoga, two "limbs" of which involve yama and niyama, which deal with how to live righteously. Of course, Aleister tells us to scrap all the rules and make our own list ... based on what disturbs our gentle minds. He also seemed to showcase going out and procreating endlessly with anything that moved, which may or may not fit into any one f our inclinations or serene mind(s).
Damascus, California?
California, yes. A land that overwhelmed Oz and the other alternate realities, probably due to a brief era in which Sandoz LSD-25 was legal and flowing like Niagara Falls. It has now lost its shimmer, but its weather remains superb in the southern venues, by the ocean.
Damn-ass-cuss was always a problem for me. Although raised in the folds of the Lutheran Christian Church, I somehow missed the story of the encounter on the Road to Damascus. So, even after entering The Path of the Wise or the Stupid depending on how you handle It, I cracked open The Book and read about how Saul-Paul chatted with Jesus and then gathered up a bunch of scrolls and rearranged them for prosperity posterity. If he hadn't done that, the obscure tale of Jesus and the Twelve Dwarfs Disciples might never have been introduced.
Damascus is now one of the hot spot centers around the globe. It has lost its shimmer.
There is no Damascus in the California desert. There is a place called Vidal ...
Vidal, California is a small unincorporated community located in southeastern California, in San Bernardino County on U.S. Route 95, 38 miles (61 km) north of Blythe, California, United States and 55 miles (89 km) south of Needles. The town is 22 miles (35 km) west of the townsite of Earp, California and 23 miles (37 km) west of Parker, Arizona on State Highway 62. The community, which is two miles (3 km) north of the Riverside County line, lies at an elevation of 812 feet (247 m) above sea level. Vidal is 221 miles (356 km) from the city (and county seat) of San Bernardino, making it the second-farthest town in the county from the county seat behind Earp. Wyatt Earp spent the last winters of his life in Vidal, working claims of gold and copper he found nearby; the aforementioned townsite of Earp is located in and around those claims.
During the late 1960s, Vidal was home to Solar Lodge, a secret society located four miles (6 km) south of the town center. The Lodge owned all of the businesses in the town during their time there, but left the area after several members were arrested for child abuse, in a case that became famous as "The Boy in the Box".
Average temperatures in Vidal range in January from 41 °F (5 °C) to 67 °F (19 °C), and July average temperatures range from 78 °F (26 °C) to a high of 108 °F (42 °C). The highest temperature ever recorded in Vidal was in 1905, when the temperature reached 127 °F (53 °C). The lowest recorded temperature was in 1911, when a low of 9 °F (−13 °C) was recorded.
- Wikipedia
Wiki does not list a population figure. When we were there, the total (what appeared to be) resident population, other than ourselves, was around six (6) living people.
Jesus did not appear to us and guide us in our ways (his way?), but he sent the Deputy Sheriffs instead. They determined our future course, and Solar lost its shimmer.
Negative emotions deriving from initiations or mystical states
I have described such phenomena as "veils" or "gaps in consciousness." Of course, we need to distinguish between a "veil" and "being stuck in a rut," the difference is unfortunately usually seen in retrospect, after the spell has passed. If the spell does not pass, they will give you medication.
I received rather specific advice on these matters. There is no need to explain it. I'll just copy and paste the lines right out of the codex ...
Nine
There will come upon you times of darkness. These are your testing times - to see how well you stand alone, when there is no-one in the outer to lean on, and inside the psychic activity and contact is nil, and depression, fatigue, or isolated self-interest threaten ... this is testing time ... and teaching time.
To be shut off in all areas but the music of the spheres.
Harmonize with the Soul-note and be at peace.
This is also The Book of Death.
Every initiation is the death of that which went before, and the beginning of life on a new plane.
Every initiation means greater freedom. Therefore, death is freedom.
Initiation is death, and therefore they fear the number 9.
But at the Heart of every Initiation, which is the point of death (or total detachment) is a golden Fire.
He who enters herein burns as a Phoenix and becomes initiate. He is no more, but his greater Self gathers up the ashes and builds a new vehicle. This new vehicle is subject to the greater Self.
Thus the Soul walks on Earth.
When darkness comes, the Soul withdraws. Keep with the Soul at these times ... withdraw. Thus the inner and outer are correctly reflected.
Å
He also seemed to showcase going out and [NOT] procreating endlessly with anything that moved
The whole point of the IX is AC's erroneous belief that, if one "gobbles de gook", conception will not result, and thus the magickal energy of orgasm is available for wish-fulfillment.
And a great deal of his prolific sex-life was innately non-procreatory: men don't make babies with men, nor does oral sex, or any intercourse per vas nefandum, or between human women and goats.
He did have a good many kids though.
He did have a good many kids though.
Yes, procreating described the act, not the process and was misused. Orgasming would probably be a better word, but its not a word.
Yes, and ALL his kids died, save one. I wonder what karma or process kills all (but one) of one's kids?
save one
Not to contradict, but if by die you mean in infancy, I thought Lola Zaza, Lulu Astarte, and Aleister Ataturk all lived full lives. And not to mention them against what I presume to be their wishes, but AC's grandchildren and great-grandchildren are living out in California last I checked.
men don't make babies with men
Maybe he got the wrong idea as a young man when he allegedly read about those medieval muslim magicians trying to conceive the second coming via hershius highwayum.
I cannot think of anyone having described it before the Aeon of Osiris.
I thought about this, and while they don't really count toward the phenomenon I was describing, I can think of two pre-osiric instances of this magical sadness. The first is that of Heraclitus the Weeping Philosopher, and the second is when Numenius (I think) beheld a vision of the gods as prostitutes in their own temples, chastising him for revealing the mysteries.
those medieval muslim magicians trying to conceive the second coming via hershius highwayum.
Thus, it said, by some horrible, bad, racist people, who should be shunned by all decent folk, the low crotch of so-called "Mohammed-catcher" pants worn in some traditional Muslim nations by those men who hope to deliver the Holy Jelly-Baby:
Fortunately, this forum is above sinking to casting such aspersions.
save one
Not to contradict, but if by die you mean ...
Well, yes. They died as kids, or infants. I was not aware that others, other than Aleister Ataturk survived to maturity. He was not raised by his papa, and he was described as exceedingly "morose." The others (Lola Zaza, Lulu Astarte) are news to me.
Randall Gair (or Randall Gair Crowley) is one of Crowley's children whom I hadn't heard of until just now (in Martin Booth's biography A Magick Life).
https://www.geni.com/people/Randall-Gair-Crowley/6000000015028295600
I found this Wikipedia article about Randall Gair's grandmother to be an interesting read:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phyllis_Marion_Gotch
The others (Lola Zaza, Lulu Astarte) are news to me.
Randall Gair (or Randall Gair Crowley) is one of Crowley's children whom I hadn't heard of until just now
Odd, as I'm sure I can't be the only one to recall that all three of them have been mentioned not only once, but several times on this very website over the last few years.
N Joy
Of course; I had forgotten that Randall Gair was Aleister Ataturk's given name.
Odd, as I'm sure I can't be the only one
If you are the ONLY one who remembers things that I, and others with total recall deficiency syndrome, overlooked several times over many years ... then you must be mistaken, or else I/we simply didn't notice what was floating by.
you are not the only one, I remember also.
it seems Mr. Barter is not "the ONLY one who remembers"; anyway, just children.
it seems Mr. Barter is not "the ONLY one who remembers"
If one is the ONLY Lonely One, then he can easily be dismissed by crying, "Wacko Nut-job," or discredited by pointing out how he can't spell properly or operate the numbers correctly.
But when TWO (or more) agree on their facts, we may be certain that they are the puppets of The Deep State.
Yet I must admit, it seems probable that AC had three kids who lived to maturity.
For some reason that wiki made me laugh, imagine a random kid reading it. It'd be impossible for them to understand even a sentence and of course much of Thelema is a little age-inappropriate for a 5yr old lol (except for some basic things)
"There is none that shall be cast down or lifted up: all is ever as it was." - Liber Legis 2:58
"To Me do ye reverence! to me come ye through tribulation of ordeal, which is bliss." - Liber Legis 3:62