| LAShTAL.COM

lashtal on September 7, 2015 at 9:20 am

Feedback so far has been extremely positive. My thanks to those of you who have reported difficulties – some minor teething problems have been corrected. Just to repeat: the Galleries, as indicated above, are currently unavailable but will return as will Tapatalk functionality.

Please report any technical issues via the Contact Form to the right of every page on the main site or via email to webmaster@lashtal.com

AbulDiz on September 13, 2015 at 3:23 pm

Thanks for making this available, i watched it last night and it bought back memories of the hazy, heady days of my youth! I like a lot of people came to Crowley via Wilson’s Cosmic Trigger.

lashtal on September 14, 2015 at 9:00 pm

Filmed as ‘Clive Barker’s Book Of Blood’ (2009): http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1169809/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_22

lashtal on September 22, 2015 at 10:21 pm

A beautiful, practical edition. So far as I can tell, it’s also impeccably proofed: not a trivial task with these texts.

christibrany on September 24, 2015 at 11:23 pm

The least they could have done is ask an English speaking friend to correct their horrible synopsis press release.

lashtal on September 27, 2015 at 8:37 pm

There’s a well-written obituary at The Wild Hunt: http://wildhunt.org/2015/09/michael-howard-1948-2015.html

mutat on October 7, 2015 at 11:42 pm

Finally…… Can not wait for this.

lashtal on October 8, 2015 at 6:19 pm

http://player.bfi.org.uk/film/watch-the-death-and-resurrection-show-qa-2015/

chuck on October 12, 2015 at 10:19 pm

93
If you are reading this (and like me can’t afford to subscribe) at least send AC a birthday gift thank you donation today.
If you do it once a month, may your Gods bless and fill you. If you only do it once a year, it won’t kill you.
93 93/93

lashtal on October 12, 2015 at 11:05 pm

Many thanks for your kind donation, @chuck – much appreciated.

Horemakhet on October 12, 2015 at 11:49 pm

Happy Crowleymass! The pull-down pic of AC with party hat is pretty damn cute I must say…

ptoner on October 13, 2015 at 8:57 am

LOL, love the easter egg you had… “Give it a tug” 🙂

lashtal on October 13, 2015 at 9:17 am

Glad you enjoyed it! I can’t take credit for the image, of course: happy to credit it properly if anyone knows the ‘artist’.

Adam Clark on October 17, 2015 at 7:06 pm

I saw him do this at the Lowry in Salford four years ago. It was OK from what I remember, but it sounds like he may have done a bit of re-eriting since then.

ptoner on October 20, 2015 at 10:41 am

Johns own personal website.
https://johndburns.wordpress.com/aleister-crowley/

lashtal on October 24, 2015 at 8:55 pm

Well, you’ve got to be admired for going to the trouble of registering on this site to add an utterly incomprehensible ‘comment’ on a decade-old post!

AbulDiz on October 30, 2015 at 11:08 am

Where do I order from please?

AbulDiz on October 30, 2015 at 11:12 am

I’ve found the site now thanks, for anyone else: http://www.landofzos.com/product/shades-in-mauve-by-edward-gauntlett-standard/

lashtal on November 8, 2015 at 1:37 pm

Received my copy yesterday. It’s a handsome little book and Michael Staley’s Introduction is good. I’ll report back in the form of a review of the whole book in due course, following my customary two reads.

ZIN on November 11, 2015 at 5:02 pm

Back in the 70’s Llewellyn publications: books, tapes, magazines, etc. were very influential for me and something I always looked forward to receiving… and thanks for all the Regardie works, Golden Dawn, and Gems From The Equinox.

WilliamThirteen on November 25, 2015 at 8:50 pm

Pried mine loose from the dead hands of the German Customs Office yesterday and am looking for to reading it this week. Will be interested in hearing your comments Paul.

lashtal on November 30, 2015 at 8:22 pm

My thanks to @herupakraath and @tor for submitting news items relating to this discovery.

Margaret Christie Burns on December 17, 2015 at 3:45 am

This is a wonderful article and great gallery! Thank you! 93!

Frater Sothis on December 18, 2015 at 5:21 am

Always with the satanic rituals..

michaelclarke18 on December 23, 2015 at 7:27 pm

I fear that the current owner – rather than rebuild – will decide to demolish the remaining structure and choose to build some ghastly new modern structure; possibly even dividing the current grounds into two parts to maximise return on investment. Hope I’m wrong……

lashtal on December 23, 2015 at 8:00 pm

Latest news from the emergency services: ‘Scottish Fire and Rescue later established that there was no-one in the house at the time of the fire and there are no casualties.’

wellreadwellbred on December 23, 2015 at 11:13 pm

“It has since been used as a private residence and a guest house, and was put up for sale in 2009 for £176,000.”

When did the current owners of the house buy it?

Or, when did the house stop being up for sale after it was put up for sale in 2009?

lashtal on December 24, 2015 at 12:56 am

The ‘for sale in 2009’ error is often repeated. For more details of what actually was sold that year, see http://www.lashtal.com/1130-old-news/

wellreadwellbred on December 24, 2015 at 3:17 am

According to those details, Boleskine House was not for sale in 2009.

Do anyone know in what year the current owners of the house bought it?

wellreadwellbred on December 24, 2015 at 7:54 am

The BBC article published 23 December 2015, and titled Firefighters called to historic Boleskine House on Loch Ness, in the following internet link,contains more photographs of the destruction caused by the fire: http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-35171061

christibrany on December 24, 2015 at 9:36 pm

Horrible horrible news. Glad that no one was inside but it’s a major loss for history…

TomBradley on December 25, 2015 at 4:46 pm

…if it must be that one’s most sacred shrine be profaned, let it be the clean assault of laughter rather than the slimy smear of sanctimoniousness!
—Magick Without Tears

Ronin635 on December 27, 2015 at 10:10 pm

Pardon my french, but this is exactly why xmas shopping can go french itself.

lashtal on January 6, 2016 at 7:24 pm

The ‘Notes Towards a Bibliography’ are especially interesting. I didn’t know, for example, that ‘Keith Rhys’, editor of the Temple Press edition of ‘The Stratagem’ is William Breeze, as is the Fr HHD who edited Jack Parsons’ ‘Magick, Gnosticism & The Witchcraft’.

ignant666 on January 7, 2016 at 1:18 pm

A very novel and interesting way of counting to one hundred for an organization founded in the late 1970s, and of measuring “success”.

As to the described contents, it is good to know that high-ranking (c)OTO officials take their oaths of personal fealty to HB so seriously.

Jamie J Barter on January 7, 2016 at 6:04 pm

Success is thy proof, eh? Well, if proof of success is the criterion, what judgement can one be meant to draw from the fact that for the whole of this particular century so far, more and more Crowley titles – for which legacy the O.T.O. is arguably supposedly solely in existence for “in order” to promote and promulgate – have lapsed out of print: far be it from any new ones being allowed to appear for a long time either. To give the five main instances, the publication of properly edited and full, sensibly annotated versions of the Confessions, the Diaries, Magick Without Tears, The Equinox III.2 and The Book of the Law Full Commentaries has been promised throughout Hymenaeus Beta’s (to give William Breeze his official nomenclature) 30 years tenure ever since the late 1980s, but are still nowhere near seeing daylight. Credit to where it is due, and so as to counterbalance any criticism a little, the O.T.O. can be commended for uploading publically accessible online versions of some of A.C.’s work, however even in this achievement they do not stand alone.

Unlike Kenneth Grant (for example), in his position as leader (or Frater Superior) of the O.T.O., there has been a considerable and conspicuous absence of either magickal works or original writings by William Breeze – Lon DuQuette has done a lot more in this field, which would have looked better coming from the supposed O.H.O.. In the meantime, Hymenaeus Beta is actually proving to be a purely administrative leader more than anything else and in this respect resembles David Miscavige with Scientology®, although Miscavige has himself proven to be a lot more successful in this area with the O.T.O. hardly having grown at all under Breeze’s (mis)management. principally as a result of a combination of the above, tinkering around with the rituals & vexatious litigation.

Roll on another anniversary which is shortly coming up – in 2017, as a matter of fact – although that won’t be for a 100th but a 70th,

Norma N Joy Conquest

Incidentally, HHD stands for the motto of William Breeze as (Frater) Homo Homini Deus. It is possibly an adaptation from Spinoza, and means roughly “Man as he appears to Man is a kind of God” or “Man is god to another man”. One can draw whatever conclusions (or none at all) one will from this.

lashtal on January 16, 2016 at 11:04 am

CLASSIFIED ADs are presented on behalf of the item sellers as a free service to members of LAShTAL.COM. Usual rules of Caveat Emptor apply. Unless otherwise stated, LAShTAL.COM receives no funds as part of any subsequent transactions and can accept no responsibility for any problems.

Jamie J Barter on January 23, 2016 at 2:46 pm

Whoever is the lucky purchaser – one thinks of the usual suspects: Kenneth Anger, Jimmy Page or the (c)oto – has a totally unique and magnificent item in their possession. I’m sure I woudn’t be the only person to want to be fascinated looking at other pages in further detail: it would be too much to hope, I suppose, for the fortunate new owner to make these available as a download? Even a facsimile special print edition I’m sure would manage to pay back its own production costs. Let’s hope that, whoever it is, s/he is not one of these hoarders who like squirreling things away things in their own private archive, never to be seen again by others with an interest…

It must have quite made the day of whoever originally found these items in the Detroit Leonard warehouse. That something could remain pristine & undisturbed for forty years gives hope for & makes one conjecture what other gems may lie similarly undisturbed elsewhere. Given that this was just one of the three items specially selected by Robert Lund (who originally bought the rediscovered collection from the warehouse owner) – and of these only ‘arguably’ and not ‘definitely’ “the most precious” – I am curious what the other two would have been “that appealed to him most from the collection” but which this synopsis of the events omits to mention.

Does anybody know what this item went for? The price can apparently be sought “on application”, as it seems to be something else which, for whatever reason, is unnecessarily being kept a secret from open disclosure. Maybe we could hold a sweepstake with a modest prize going to the closest?! Given that just one page of an incomplete handwritten letter by A.C. to Lady Frieda Harris is currently being touted for $894, I’d start proceedings off with a conservative guesstimate of £31,000. Any advance, anyone?

Taking it all lying down
Norma N Joy Conquest

Jamie J Barter on January 23, 2016 at 3:08 pm

There doesn’t seem to have been too much publicity after the initial blaze (if you’ll pardon the pun) exactly a month ago.

Since initial reports suggested that even at the time when the first fire engines arrived 60% of the building had already gone up in flames, what can be the current state of the remains? Are they a wholly burnt out shell, and are there any plans to rebuild/ restore the building to its former glory? The Book of the Law stated: “though with fire and sword it be burnt down & shattered, yet an invisible house there standeth” (III: 34). So we’ve already had the fire – what is the probability that the “shattered” part of the ‘prophecy’ will now be fulfilled by the metal wrecking equipment of the demolition crew as it arrives to finish the job which the fire started?

And has arson by fundies been ruled out?
Norma N Joy Conquest

WilliamThirteen on January 27, 2016 at 3:05 pm

One of the other two was the author’s edition of the Collected Works, auctioned off last year.

http://www.lashtal.com/collected-works-for-sale-at-auction/

Long term memory going, eh Jamie?

lashtal on January 28, 2016 at 8:40 pm

This book will be going to the printers in early February for publication in March, and is now available for ordering ahead of publication.

Beyond the Mauve Zone by Kenneth Grant is an attractive, sewn hardbound book, octavo format, 324 pages, with a full-colour dust-jacket, and limited to 1500 copies. Included is a 24-page section of colour and half-tone plates, a colour frontispiece, black and white custom printed endpapers, and line drawings throughout the text, as well as a Glossary, Bibliography and Index. Further details about the content of the book, as well as how to order both the standard and the deluxe editions, can be found by visiting our website, or by following the direct link http://starfirepublishing.co.uk/Beyond_the_Mauve_Zone.htm

WilliamThirteen on February 6, 2016 at 12:01 pm

I also have a book or two from old Nick’s collection, though I never had the pleasure of making his acquaintance.

“Unto them from whose eyes the veil of life hath fallen may there be granted the accomplishment of their true Wills; whether they will absorption in the Infinite, or to be united with their chosen and preferred, or to be in contemplation, or to be at peace, or to achieve the labour and heroism of incarnation on this planet or another, or in any Star, or aught else, unto them may there be granted the accomplishment of their wills; yea, the accomplishment of their wills.”

lashtal on February 6, 2016 at 12:44 pm

I had the great pleasure of meeting Nick a handful of times and spoke with him on the phone a few days before his passing. He was a gentleman and a scholar in the truest sense. His funeral was memorable and very well attended.

sandyboy on February 6, 2016 at 3:23 pm

He was a real gent and a friend. I managed to visit with him a couple of times in the weeks before he passed. His funeral was absolutely packed with friends from various aspects of his life. Five years on and Weiser are still working through selling his book collection. There’s supposed to be a book from them about the best items in his personal library at some point down the line. I still think about Nick often and it doesn’t feel like half a decade since he went.

Nino Antinous on February 7, 2016 at 7:07 pm

Sandyboy – do you have any idea when Weiser to plan to issue their book on Nick’s collection? it would be a wonderful tribute to him.
- sandyboy on February 7, 2016 at 10:56 pm
  
  No, I’m supposed to write something for it but I’m told they are still working through his sizable collection.

ptoner on February 8, 2016 at 9:55 am

Thanks to bothe RTC and Paul.

SPHINX on February 9, 2016 at 1:48 am

Hello Everyone,

Thank you for the consideration you’ve all shown posting more memories of Nicholas for us here.

With the 5th Anniversary of his passing now upon us his photo is before me – wearing his Baphomet T-shirt and enjoying his life.
I’ve been chatting with him all week… and happy to have provoked likewise thoughts from some of my “A.C.S.” friends.

sandyboy on February 29, 2016 at 4:49 pm

It’s wonderful how the star of AOS has risen in the last few decades. I remember in the 80s buying a framed automatic drawing by him for £50, and the shop had some tiny sketches on pieces of cardboard for a few pounds. Sadly I no longer have the piece.

Michael Staley on March 4, 2016 at 10:12 am

Is the automatic you bought a drawing originally owned by Hannen Swaffer and used to illustrate an article of his in the ‘London Mystery Magazine’? If so, it’s amongst the Spares coming up for sale at Christies on March 17th. Irrespective of that, there are some very good pictures amongst these lots, and like you I’m pleased at his work starting to gain the appreciation it deserves.

lashtal on March 18, 2016 at 7:49 pm

Useful information from a post by Caroline Wise on Facebook yesterday: ‘Today’s Austin Spares auctioned at Christies – Swaffer sketch went for £1,375. Hybrid £3250, Automatic sketch – £5000, Young Self with Witch – £22,500, Primal Urge £10,000 and Joan Crawford – £18,750. Masks and Faces £10,000. Neveresque £5000. Note these totals are rounded up to include 25% commission and the VAT the commission. Spares always sell, and he has always been highly regarded in the art world, but these premium prices of the last couple of years perhaps show a new and proper appreciation.’

Jamie J Barter on March 20, 2016 at 6:26 pm

Give it a few more years together with concomitant exposure to the rough Scottish elements, and Skene might end up in a similar sorry state to the Abbey of Thelema in the rather more hospitable climes and temperate surroundings of Cefalu.

We might even have a campaign to “Save the Kaaba”, along the same lines of “Save the Abbey”. With similar effects (=minimal, unfortunately). No murals or Chambre de Cauchemars there, of course, but…

Trust that the invisible house there standeth is itself made of sterner stuff!

Norma N Joy Conquest

ignant666 on March 26, 2016 at 2:33 pm

Just tremendous stuff, very well-written and researched- as good academic scholarship on AC as I have seen.
Makes a very cogent argument for peyote as the hidden thread throughout Thelema, Scientific Illuminism, and AC’s work in general. The bits on TBOL are particularly interesting.

EL-Flippo on April 2, 2016 at 8:57 pm

https://www.scribd.com/doc/306755484/Zos-Speaks-Through-His-Magical-Steles

EL-Flippo on April 3, 2016 at 6:30 pm

“It seems that Geb (earth) was largely worshiped as a goose, his sacred animal, during the pre-dynastic period” (http://www.ancientegyptonline.co.uk/geb.html).

Michael Staley on April 8, 2016 at 2:37 pm

Congratulations, El-Flippo, on making the most off-topic posts I have come across for a long time. This is a news item about a late 1940s pastel by Spare being reproduced as a print. Of what earthly relevence to that are your two posts? Are you always this incontinent?

EL-Flippo on April 12, 2016 at 3:11 pm

“What then is this? (P) They are the three bones of my IDS, made into sentient symbols that think for us understood by all the egos and gods: of sin” (Magical stele)

The 3 bones are depicted as 3 times 3 triangles in the formula of the Maya stele. A triangle is one half of a circle (180 degrees). I’m suggesting that the solution of the real YEARNING YANTRA is a 3 times cycle around a triple helix. Just take a look at the Magical stele. Two animals are hanging by the ends of the caduceus. What’s so off topic about that?

lashtal on April 8, 2016 at 4:25 pm

Available in the UK here: Legend of Aleister Crowley

EL-Flippo on April 14, 2016 at 7:54 am

The Yantra of yearning is a very nice piece of art by the way! Appreciate the work of all who’ve contributed and made it available to the public. Try to turn the picture 180 degrees. Look at the head in the middle :=). I can also identify 3 double helixes in this painting – for what’s that worth. And maybe a number to the left: 20 or 26.

EL-Flippo on April 14, 2016 at 8:06 am

When turned the picture I can actually see 5 double helixes. The plot thickens :=). There should be a way to edit the posts. Too many double and triple posts.

EL-Flippo on April 14, 2016 at 9:29 am

Note: The head in the middle might hint to a sixth helix by AOS (?). The end.

sandyboy on April 20, 2016 at 2:50 pm

I was forced to sell my copy of England’s Hidden Reverse during a financial crisis – it was inscribed by Jhon and Sleazy and several others on the launch day. I wonder where the Coil collection Ralph Chubb volumes are now. I loved Balance’s twinkling sense of humour. I was at the museum of witchcraft in Cornwall the other day and was pleased to see a photograph of him on the memorial wall in the entrance.
Sandy Robertson

Markus on April 24, 2016 at 8:55 pm

The caption beside the photo reads: Crowley, Aleister -1875-1947 – writer and painter, 68 – 1931

The photo is from the “Ulstein Bilderdienst”, possibly related to the Ullstein-Verlag, being a well-known, still extant publishing house.

Markus

William Thirteen on April 25, 2016 at 6:16 am

AC met with one of the editors at Ullstein in November 1931 to discuss writing for them, so this photo may have been taken in connection with that, or it may have been created as part of the press package for the exhibition of his paintings which opened the month before.

William Thirteen on May 3, 2016 at 5:08 pm

The article mentions a family & children – is this correct?

lashtal on May 5, 2016 at 1:20 pm

I understand that Mo, Ataturk’s daughter, passed away in February.

christibrany on May 6, 2016 at 11:00 pm

Sorry to probably be an idiot, but is she saying she wrote an essay (the book in question) for her AA grade-work, and this essay is about how she decided to leave the AA? If so I think that’s very ironic!

Please somebody enlighten me.

Thanks !
Chris

soz on May 8, 2016 at 3:04 am

My guess is that cult she was referring to wasn’t the A:. A:.

William Thirteen on May 8, 2016 at 11:26 am

93 Beryth,

while there may be many and varied Thelemic orders and individuals in South Africa – one that stands out is

http://www.otosa.co.za/contactus.asp

93 93/93
William

christibrany on May 9, 2016 at 3:59 pm

I would hope so! I wouldn’t consider the A.:.A.:. a cult; especially since they take no money and one is always free to stop their affiliation at any time.
I was just curious. Does anyone know what cult the book is about?
Scientology?

Marc on May 10, 2016 at 10:50 pm

Thank you very much, appreciate

Fohat on May 11, 2016 at 1:45 pm

Thank you for this 🙂

azrael2393 on May 16, 2016 at 5:52 pm

The “cult” she escaped is Roberto Flores’ lineage of the A.’.A.’. (yes, yet another, apparently). Not sure if this one was originally part of Cornelius’ own, or in allegiance to it. Turns out Cornelius and Flores quarreled and started the usual name calling on the internet, and now we have this book from a freshly made 5=6 (one does wonder…) to address the “bad cult”.

It seems to me we are seeing in the A.’.A.’. the kind of disgraceful bickering that pained the OTO in the previous decades. I hope for a quick resolution of it.

christibrany on May 21, 2016 at 11:27 pm

That’s really great, Paul!
Good luck with that all!

I would donate books except I only have 2 paperbacks I don’t want because you wouldn’t want them either. But I wish you success and that’s really great!

Jamie J Barter on May 22, 2016 at 5:24 pm

Sounds like a right cult! It looks like it might be an interesting read, human behaviour being what it is.

“Testing, testing”
N Joy

ptoner on May 23, 2016 at 9:18 am

Thank you for your support Chris. Much appreciated!

Erica M Cornelius on May 29, 2016 at 6:50 pm

[Moderator’s Note: Text deleted at original poster’s request.]

Jamie J Barter on May 30, 2016 at 2:40 pm

It was the A.’. A.’. to which I was somewhat ironically referring to as “sounds ike a right cult!” here. (- I think. But maybe, as soz guessed earlier, it could have been referring to something else, though – the [C.]O.T.O., perhaps?)

N-Joy

lashtal on May 31, 2016 at 8:31 pm

So, the clumsy and childish ‘sounds like a right cult’ pun was actually a demonstration of irony?

Why didn’t you take the opportunity to take yet another pop at the OTO? Oh, wait, you did…

lashtal on May 31, 2016 at 11:08 pm

Received my copy today – review to follow.

Jamie J Barter on June 1, 2016 at 1:39 am

The [C].O.T.O., to my mind, is not the same thing at all as the O.T.O.. (The trouble is they think that they are.) Surely though nothing is beyond criticism (including and especially me it seems & my being lumped in with a load of crass personal abuse which reflects most poorly on the sender’s good judgement) ?

Erica has just clarified the matter much more clearly by her saying

“People should not consider the book an expose of a cult or bickering in the A.’.A.’. so much as the work of an Adept to expose and vanquish the phantoms in her psyche.”

(I had not seen her Comment by the time I’d written mine & it eventually appeared, but it now puts a quite different complexion upon initial appearances & I hope to enjoy reading through the Bullshit book on some future occasion & applaud her courage in calling a spade a spade!)

N Joy

Jamie J Barter on June 4, 2016 at 6:20 pm

This is an interesting & imaginative theory and one to which I would like to be able to give at least some measure of credence for ingenuity alone, but the thing that stops it being some sort of a Thelemic update on Allegro’s Sacred Mushroom and the Cross is the inconvenient fact that, as the author duly goes on to recognize, Crowley made no direct references himself to the A. muscaria mushroom anywhere throughout his extensive writings or pictorially, apart from depicting this one specimen in May Morn.

Michael Staley on June 4, 2016 at 7:05 pm

Why on earth would Crowley disguise his references to Amanita Muscaria in the first place, let alone as sex magick? After all, he showed little reticence in discussing a multitude of other drugs.

christibrany on June 5, 2016 at 8:07 pm

Thank you for the clarification Erica. Your book sounds very interesting and i hope i can read it soon.
I found a lot of value in the writings of Castaneda but I do know in later years he was engaged in some personally nasty behaviour as well as money seeking with his brand of a Toltec yoga. I do think he had a lot of good and useful things to teach at some point but yes you have to separate the wheat from the chaff with all humans. Regardless of Don Juan being fictional or real I do think Castanedas works have practical value. I do know a lot of so called teachers have come forth claiming to be carrying on his teaching so a cult wouldn’t surprise me however.

Erica M Cornelius on September 17, 2016 at 2:43 pm

[Moderator’s Note: Text deleted at original poster’s request.]
- christibrany on September 18, 2016 at 12:51 am
  
  Thank you so much for your response Erica.
  
  I found Thelema after ‘Castaneda’ and I love both of them but I think that I found a really good system of work in the A.:.A;. but I really value what I learnt reading Castaneda’s books.
  Castaneda’s books are super unique and super valuable and useful but thankfully I have a system of AC’s program to approach this stuff now.
  
  The interesting thing is that I ‘met’ Castaneda first and it worked for a long time. (It never stopped working so much) but what is more useful about the A.:.A.:. is that like I said it enables you to see what comes from you, what comes from outside, and what is truly anomalous and from outside both of those.
  
  So long story short, I love both of those works but I am glad I have found a spiritual filter for Castaneda’s work. 🙂
  
  93s
  
  Chris

Jamie J Barter on June 7, 2016 at 9:14 am

Philip Newman goes on to state that:

“Perhaps it was due to an oath of secrecy. Perhaps we’re completely off the mark (as well as off our rocker). The only safe thing we can say at this point is that obligations of secrecy never stopped Aleister Crowley from writing before.”

Maybe that’s it, then (that he’s off his rocker?)!

Incidentally, while on the subject didn’t I see a crazy Comment by one “mermaid tampon” the last time I passed this way, or was I imagining things?

N Joy

christibrany on June 7, 2016 at 2:42 pm

I saw it too. It was so crazy it reminded me of something written by a bot trying to appear human

Michael Staley on June 7, 2016 at 10:50 pm

I should imagine that it was removed by the moderator, and quite rightly too.

Jamie J Barter on June 8, 2016 at 1:54 pm

Just so – but the odd thing is, that such a Comment would have had to have already been “pre-moderated” to have been allowed to appear in the first place?! (Just as this Comment, and all other Comments to the News features, would need to be also).

N Joy

lashtal on June 8, 2016 at 2:32 pm

It’s not in the least bit ‘odd’, Jamie J Barter. I keep moderating decisions to a minimum where they relate to non-Forum posts on this site. Basically, just deleting the inevitable spam bot Comments and approving the rest. Mermaidtampon’s comments, however, generated a number of complaints. I acted on those complaints and deleted the offending material.

herupakraath on June 10, 2016 at 1:49 am

An outstanding lecture that demonstrates yet again the seminal influence Crowley was on others during his life and after his death. I have been of the opinion for some time that Carlos Castaneda was influenced to an extreme degree by the writings of Crowley; the insights provided by Mr. Everitt on Crowley’s use of Peyote serve to reinforce that position even further.

Thanks for posting this.

lashtal on June 10, 2016 at 7:54 pm

Agreed, absolutely. Patrick’s research is genuinely cutting edge – his thesis opens up all manner of possibilities.

mortimer on June 11, 2016 at 2:43 pm

My apologies for the somewhat hefty price. Making the book available for global distribution means that retailers like Amazon love to take a rather large slice of the pie (actually, pretty much all the pie). If you want the book cheaper, keep an eye out for regular publisher discount codes here: http://www.lulu.com/home

Michael Staley on June 11, 2016 at 11:51 pm

I don’t think it’s that hefty a price; in terms of number of pages, seems substantial. I knew Gerald on and off over the years. Though we differed on some points – in particular, about our respective estimates of Kenneth Grant – we had much in common as Thelemites and I respected him.

mortimer on June 12, 2016 at 11:31 am

Yes, I’m certain you are mentioned somewhere within these letters, Michael, although exactly where I cannot quite find at short notice. However, I recall that respect being expressed as mutual despite the different points of view held between the two of you. One other thing that might also be of interest to potential readers – which I failed to mention – is that there is an additional appendix in the book of Gerald’s unfinished screenplay ‘666: The Life of Aleister Crowley’. Special thanks must go to Jamie Barter for allowing me to reproduce it within the pages, and hopefully between James and I, we’ll be able to complete it to a standard that is in line with Gerald’s original vision. It might turn out a little long to qualify as a feature film, but there is also the possibility of turning it into a miniseries, or even graphic novel (which might be another gateway to film perhaps).

the_real_simon_iff on June 20, 2016 at 10:53 pm

93!

Thanks for that Paul! Very entertaining and so very british! I liked it a lot!

Love=Law
Lutz

sandyboy on June 21, 2016 at 1:01 am

What an utterly fabulous book. It’s no dry series of magical detail, but should interest anyone who simply is intrigued by Suster and his writings without being a practitioner of the occult themselves. I especially like the large format and reproduction of the letters themselves rather than re-typeset transcriptions. There are magazine columns and other bits and pieces by both GS and Mortimer too, and Suster’s Crowley screenplay takes up a hefty page count too. Way, way better than even I hoped for.

mortimer on June 21, 2016 at 8:47 pm

Thank you, sandyboy. I hope I have done Gerald proud by giving people an insight into this fascinating man and his positive contribution to modern Thelemic culture.

Jamie J Barter on June 27, 2016 at 2:07 am

Mick, I have noticed that with all the publicity and notifications of the various fine quality reprints of Kenneth’s works by Starfire, you mention they each “take account of annotations from his own personal copy of the book”, etc (or words to that effect), and I take it that these may be silently edited (i.e., incorporated into the text of the new edition without a specific indication of whereabouts they occur and take place). And I was therefore wondering – this happening to be the case – is there some sort of a compilation or pamphlet available which contains a list of each of the differences that would appear between the various editions?

The reason I ask is although I have copies of all the older pre-Starfire versions (with the exception of BTMZ and TNA) I’m not in a position to acquire standard (let alone ‘de luxe’ unfortunately, more’s the pity! :-(!) versions of the newer ones & so was also wondering if there was such a compendium, as it would be most handy & save having to buy “more-or-less” the same editions all over again? I am sure I am enquiring on behalf of others (apart from myself) as well that it would be highly convenient, useful, extremely interesting & most stimulating to be able to view what may have been going on in the actual development and evolution within KG’s actual thought processes and mentation that would have set off & prompted all the particular revisions he then chose to be significant enough to make. In addition (for example), the earlier first edition of “Against The Light” is not easily or (relatively) cheaply available any more in order to be able to compare & contrast the two of them both, apart from the additional time & labour which this would experientially involve.

With best wishes: N Joy
Jamie

Michael Staley on June 27, 2016 at 11:45 am

I do understand your point of view here, Jamie. This is something that we discussed briefly in the forums a year or two ago.

In the first place, Kenneth’s corrections are relatively minor, mostly typos that he picked up; it wasn’t Kenneth’s practise to revise previous books in the light of his later thinking, so these changes won’t throw any light on his development. The most significant correction made was to ‘Cults of the Shadow’ where two paragraphs had to be juxtaposed, and there were some other corrections which were consequential. Fortunately I was able to find a typescript by Kenneth from the 1950s or early 1960s upon which the chapter in question was based. This juxtaposition was amongst the errata listed in the Skoob edition, but was difficult to understand. In the case of ‘Against the Light’, the corrections in Kenneth’s copy are few and minor. The most significant is the lack of a particular section break in part 3; this was a lapse on my part as an impatient young man back in 1997.

Changes are not restricted to those noted by Kenneth, however. Where there are errors in gematria, for instance, I do correct those, as well as typos not previously noticed. Basically, though, my aim is to change as little as possible.

I do have my work cut out at present, Jamie, but when I have more time I will tabulate the corrections, and probably make the tables available on the Starfire Publishing website. Obviously I would prefer that the new editions become the standard editions, but I also appreciate that not everybody is in a position to buy them.

Michael Staley on June 27, 2016 at 2:26 pm

I remember this as one of the best talks of the ‘Kenneth Grant Day’ at Treadwells in January this year. ‘Against the Light’ has been a passion of mine ever since 1996 when first reading it in typescript.

Michael Staley on June 28, 2016 at 9:41 am

I’m looking forward to this book. Ruth Bayer is an extremely good photographer. Her work appears throughout one of the books that Starfire Publishing issued last year – ‘The Play Goes On: The Rituals of the Rainbow Bridge’ by Zachary Cox and the late Jean Williams – and is excellent throughout.

lashtal on July 1, 2016 at 8:44 pm

Another article in The New Yorker: http://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/the-reinventions-of-genesis-breyer-p-orridge?intcid=mod-latest

sandyboy on July 2, 2016 at 4:20 am

Looks to be another bumper collection. I can commend Nina Antonia’s Bosie and the Beast, an intriguing study on the antipathy of Crowley for Lord Alfred Douglas, Oscar Wilde’s beau.

Jamie J Barter on July 4, 2016 at 9:47 am

Sorry I haven’t replied earlier, Mick, but I don’t pass by this way on Lashtal very often these days, the level of (non-) activity being what it has become. Still, there’s no use in getting unduly blue about these sort of things!

Thanks for the reply & your comments. The situation more or less chimes with what I thought might be the case, although I don’t actually remember it being discussed before in the forums offhand, myself.

The typos themselves are not really important and are of minimal significance; I had more in mind the sort of scale of amendments which will apparently be necessary with the revised forthcoming edition of “Confessions” (whenever this eventually appears sometime this century). In the meantime, along with everyone else I’ll await for your publication of the amendments & differences between the editions on Starfire Publishing in due course, and which I expect will be the sooner of the two.
When you say you “correct errors in gematria”, though, this must be rather difficult as Kenneth tended to have his own system & practice of “creative” gematria didn’t he, which didn’t/ doesn’t necessariy accord with the conventions of “traditional” or commmonly-accepted gematria? (I take it that it was the latter you had in mind there, or did you in fact mean something else?)

Best wishes,
As Ever: N Joy

Jamie J Barter on July 13, 2016 at 1:35 pm

Never mind Major McMurtry, it looks more like there’s been some sort of a Major accident! And that there’s a disembodied foot resting against the guy’s torso, like a lump of meat from The Beatles’ “butcher shop” banned LP cover…

Norma N Joy Conquest

sandyboy on July 16, 2016 at 8:59 pm

Looks like a very much alive person, slender, big hair and possibly bespectacled – so it must be AC! (Not!!!). Self promo of the most ridiculous type.

lashtal on July 16, 2016 at 10:42 pm

You don’t say!

Ray Chappell on July 20, 2016 at 8:01 pm

So Crowley spent his life holding seances at Warwick Castle? Well well, I never knew that.

christibrany on July 27, 2016 at 6:43 pm

“Living Thelema” as well as “Speech in the Silence” are both really good too!

lashtal on July 27, 2016 at 8:12 pm

Indeed they are. I didn’t mention them, though, because neither seems to be current: my iTunes Podcast feed shows the last episode of ‘Living Thelema’ to have been published in August 2015 and the last ‘Speech In The Silence’ in September 2015.

christibrany on July 27, 2016 at 9:00 pm

Yeah it’s too bad 🙁

lashtal on July 28, 2016 at 10:27 pm

More from Starfire…

This book will be going to the printers at the end of July 2016 for publication in August, and is now available for ordering ahead of publication.

Against the Light by Kenneth Grant is an attractive, sewn hardbound book, octavo format, 142 pages, with a full-colour dust-jacket, and limited to 750 copies. Included are black and white custom printed endpapers, and a full-colour frontispiece. Further details about the content of the book, as well as how to order both the standard and the deluxe editions, can be found by visiting our website, or by following the direct link http://starfirepublishing.co.uk/Against_the_Light.htm.

Against the Light was first published in 1997 but has been out of print for many years. This republication is freshly typeset, and incorporates corrections and additions by Kenneth Grant noted in his copy of the first edition. Illustrated endpapers include diary entries by the author from 1985 when the novel was started, some early plot notes, the first draft of a cover blurb from 1995, and a diagram where Grant gives the meaning of symbols on the front of the dust-jacket. A coloured frontispiece reproduces the bust of Mephistopheles, a mysterious and compelling figure which is an integral feature of this novel and which appears elsewhere in Grant’s work.

The background to this Nightside Narrative, like so much of Grant’s work, can be found in New Isis Lodge, a magical working group which developed from the late 1940s, was formally established in 1955, and carried on working until the mid 1960s. Some of the workings of New Isis Lodge were described by Kenneth Grant in Hecate’s Fountain. In the late 1950s, the ritualists of New Isis Lodge began to receive a series of oracles which on subsequent rearrangement formed a coherent work known as ‘The Book of the Spider’. When planning his third and final trilogy during the 1980s, Grant decided to publish ‘The Book of the Spider’ with extended commentary in the final volume, The Ninth Arch. He was aware, however, that assimilation of The Ninth Arch might be somewhat demanding, and thought that perhaps something was appropriate by way of introduction. That “something” turned out to be the novel Against the Light.

Grant started writing Against the Light in the mid 1980s, and he developed it to explore in a fictional setting some of the themes of ‘The Book of the Spider’. It was his intention that Against the Light be published before The Ninth Arch, and this was achieved by its first publication in 1997. The Ninth Arch itself is now to be republished towards the end of 2016, and it is fitting that publication of Against the Light again precedes it, this time by several months.

christibrany on July 30, 2016 at 2:41 am

I really like this actually. It’s far easier to find stuff, and a lot less scrolling 🙂

lashtal on July 30, 2016 at 10:04 am

Thanks for the positive response. It’s all part of a process of professionalising the site! The key, obviously, is for members to report any issues so they can be fixed before they become ‘established.’

herupakraath on August 1, 2016 at 10:15 pm

The site looks great; keep up the good work.

the_real_simon_iff on August 2, 2016 at 9:05 am

93, Paul!

I like it a lot! Very nice work. So far I encountered no issues at all.

Greetings from Munick

Love=Law
Lutz

lashtal on August 7, 2016 at 11:05 am

Related event at Treadwells Bookshop in London:

Friday 16 September 2016
Beyond the Robot – Colin Wilson Launch
Launch Event with Talk – Gary Lachman

Colin Wilson burst on the world literary scene in 1956 with The Outsider, and from then until his 2013 death aged 82, Wilson created an enormous oeuvre on philosophy, psychology, sex, crime, literature, and the occult. His 1971 history The Occult became a bestseller, helping the subject recieve serious study. This new book, subtitled Life and World of Colin Wilson is the first full account of Wilson’s career, from his early days as an Angry Young Man, to his last years as a philosopher of consciousness. Author Gary Lachman was a fan and a friend of Wilson – come for the talk, anecdotes, Q&A, signings and a free glass of wine. Collect your copy on the night as you arrive. Max 45 places.
Price: £17.99 (includes a copy of the book, a talk and a free glass of wine)
Register on 0207 419 8507 or book online
Time: 7 pm doors, half hour talk at 7.30. Ends 9.30 pm

Alan_OBrien on August 10, 2016 at 3:47 pm

Is there a reason there are two identical photos of Erica on this page?

Alan_OBrien on August 10, 2016 at 3:56 pm

Over the years I remember some other big fires in Britain, Windsor Castle and the Cutty Sark spring to mind, where the damage was colossal but nowadays one would never guess there had even been a fire. So if there was enough money available then there is no reason that the house could not be made as good as new! But it takes a lot of money, especially where demolition is an alternative.

lashtal on August 12, 2016 at 11:27 am

From Vents Magazine:

“Psychic TV return to us with Alienist. The album includes two original tracks: the haunting yet emotional “I’m Looking For You”; an epic, multi-layered, metaphysical exploration in the form of a conversation between Genesis and “Lucifer”, who is in hiding after his failed rebellion is over. And “Alienist” which is a delightful fusion of dance grooves harking back to PTV’s Acid House days and the group’s current love of heavy psychedelic rock.”

sandyboy on August 13, 2016 at 12:22 pm

I look forward to reading Cosey’s book. Haven’t seen her in many, many years, back in the day when TG/PTV were wreckers of what passes for civilisation. A great person.

Tiger on August 13, 2016 at 7:20 pm

I’m reading it now.

So far Erica has not described her magical experiences with the cult.
It seems she joined it because she projected a father figure ancient wisdom civilization mystery on to it.

She seems to prefer historical fact and not what she calls the placebo effect that can transform practitioners.
She seems to have a problem with the Guru Chele relationship .

I am enjoying the read but it is spinning my head because what she writes seems similar to what has been going on in the O.T.O. s and the AA’s

I don’t know if this is the proper thread to ask but I would assume Marcelo Motta would have expelled McMurtry from the A A ?

Erica M Cornelius on September 17, 2016 at 3:07 pm

[Moderator’s Note: Text deleted at original poster’s request.]

christibrany on August 15, 2016 at 10:05 pm

That sounds very weird indeed, and maybe worth a read? Hmm…

lashtal on August 15, 2016 at 10:35 pm

One of my favourite albums. I envy those lucky enough to see it performed live. Not too sure about the article’s reference to “Aleister Crowley’s ‘The Secret’,” though…

lashtal on August 17, 2016 at 8:46 pm

Fixed now by @eol

http://date.lashtal.com

sandyboy on August 21, 2016 at 5:26 pm

“Seemingly unread”!? Shocking heheh…

lashtal on August 21, 2016 at 5:50 pm

This copy, @sandyboy – my other (standard) copy is well-read.

sandyboy on August 22, 2016 at 3:25 am

My bad! You wild sex magickian you. Saw pic of J.Balance in Boscastle witchcraft museum recently – much missed.

lashtal on August 22, 2016 at 7:48 pm

Some typos in the original auction now corrected.

William Thirteen on August 23, 2016 at 4:29 pm

according to Christies:

This work was previously owned by Cecil Williamson (1909-1999) a Neopagan Witch and founder of both the Witchcraft Research Center (which was a part of MI6’s war against Nazi Germany) and the Museum of Witchcraft in Boscastle, Cornwall. Williamson was a friend of Crowley’s and presumably the present lot was a gift from the artist.

lashtal on August 24, 2016 at 2:28 pm

Estimate
GBP 1,000 – GBP 1,500

I think we can safely assume that the estimate will be exceeded!

lashtal on August 26, 2016 at 6:53 pm

The album is available through Apple Music today – and it’s rather wonderful!

lashtal on September 2, 2016 at 10:27 am

BBC Radio 6 at 8pm on Sunday 4 September 2016: ‘Stuart [Maconie] talks to Current 93’s David Tibet about his collaboration with the legendary producer Youth as Hypnopazūzu and their new album ‘Create Christ, Sailor Boy’.’

christibrany on September 3, 2016 at 4:47 am

brilliant! 😀

christibrany on September 4, 2016 at 11:16 pm

Lovely looking collection. Hope you arent being forced to sell for negative reasons..
Do you have any Schulke?

William Thirteen on September 5, 2016 at 10:56 am

Beautiful shelving Paul. I do hope that the ‘change in personal circumstances’ is bearable.

obscurus on September 9, 2016 at 5:57 pm

There comes a time to let them go, their purpose being better served in the hands of those with hungry minds. And deep pockets?

lashtal on September 9, 2016 at 6:44 pm

Well said, @obscurus

obscurus on September 9, 2016 at 6:12 pm

SHhhhh……be quiet. Do you hear that? I think my bullshit meter may be going off?

christibrany on September 10, 2016 at 11:39 pm

Paul, I may not have the money for anything but if something good comes up I may scrape it up somehow. When are you going to release your list?

lashtal on September 10, 2016 at 11:54 pm

I was working on a simple list but that got delayed by a number of time wasters who made contact through Facebook, professing serious interest in some of the high-value items but, I fear, just using their sale as the opportunity to get me to provide photographs and fill in gaps in their knowledge. I’m now inclined to add books to the Sales section of this site: https://www.lashtal.com/shop/ In any case, I’m working on cataloguing the collection.

lashtal on September 15, 2016 at 2:45 pm

Sold for GBP 17,500

lashtal on September 18, 2016 at 11:38 am

And this is presented as journalism in modern Britain. Still, the ‘Thelma’ reference amused me.

Tiger on September 18, 2016 at 8:37 pm

Erica thanks for writing the book i enjoyed it very much. It triggered some thins for me and lead me to some other books (In the Center of the Fire, and The Dark lord H.P. Lovecraft, Kenneth Grant and the Typhonian Tradition.)

which lead me to realize there are a lot of pieces of the puzzle still missing for me.

How do yo respond to James Wasserman who thinks highly of McMurtry but claimes that Crowley did not train him in the A.’.A.’. (and wondering who taught Grady the A.’.A.’. system) ?

And to Peter Lavenda who claims that Crowely tinkered with Egyptology ?

I hope to see more such works (papers, books) on students working a grade in their system.

thanks for representing McMurtry-Cornelius A.’.A.’. lineage.

Erica M Cornelius on September 27, 2016 at 9:25 pm

[Moderator’s Note: Text deleted at original poster’s request.]

lashtal on September 18, 2016 at 9:38 pm

Sold.

Tiger on September 18, 2016 at 9:52 pm

I guess Grady learned from Phyllis.

Sorry to have side tracked.

The comments here should remain on On Getting A Bullshit Meter book and the task of an Outer Adept in Tiphereth.

Erica M Cornelius on September 27, 2016 at 9:34 pm

[Moderator’s Note: Text deleted at original poster’s request.]

Dis on September 19, 2016 at 5:24 pm

Could I suggest changing the graphic? Really don’t want to look at that image…

lashtal on September 19, 2016 at 5:38 pm

The graphic is taken from the original article. I tend to agree that it would be better not being prominently presented, though, so have swapped the ‘featured article’ graphic with one relating to another news item.

Jamie J Barter on September 21, 2016 at 1:29 pm

“I’d also like to address your last question about Grady McMurtry and Motta. Grady McMurtry was a known and acknowledged Magister Templi (since 1970),”

Erica, please could you just briefly explain how, and by whom, Grady McMurtry was both “known” and “acknowledged” to have been a Magister Templi since 1970? I also understand that later in the 70s/ early 80s he additionally claimed to have been a 9=2 whose “word” was “OTO”, but his claim here was similarly undocumented and furthermore there is no indication of either a superior above or an inferior below within the catina of the standard A.’. A.’. framework.

“and anyone above the Abyss cannot be expelled. Thus, regardless if Motta legitimately ran the A.’.A.’. or not, he could not expel McMurtry.”

This may or may not be the case, but please could you also supply the authority by which you make this statement. (I do not recall it being stated in One Star in Sight, for example.)

N Joy

Erica M Cornelius on September 27, 2016 at 9:41 pm

[Moderator’s Note: Text deleted at original poster’s request.]
- Jamie J Barter on October 3, 2016 at 11:57 pm
  
  “Grady has been acknowledged undisputedly by every A.’.A.’. authority. Further, no one below the Abyss has any right to question someone swearing he Oath. They swear it, and it is between them and the Gods. It’s basic Qabalah. You are in the Silver Star, the true A.’.A.’. , focused in the Supernal Triad. Success is your proof after that.
  
  If you do not understand how this is so, I suggest you reading the Frater Achad bio in Essays 2. This piece details the correspondence between Frater Achad and Crowley on becoming a Magister Templi. I think that will help you understand the theory.”
  
  Thanks for the tip. I always believed that the idea behind swearing the Oath of the [Babe of the] Abyss is that it was meant to fulfil the actions of a kick-start but that the work of the intervening grades would be carried out as a matter of course later. This was as far as A.C. himself spelled out the matter to Achad (Charles Stansfeld Jones) inasmuch as it related to him. “Success is your proof” indeed, but there does not seem to be much proof that Grady DID carry out all of the work of the intervening grades. In deed, in so far as he had any claim to being a “Saint” (which is tantamount to the achievement of Crossing the Abyss, pouring one’s lifeblood into the Cup of Babalon and in so doing becoming a Magster Templi of 8=3) some evidence points the other way and his own ex-wife, Phyllis a.k.a Soror Meral (and ancestress of one of the key claimants to an A.’. A.’. lineage today) seemed to have rather an averse opinion, having gone so far as to have inferred McMurtry may have been a “slave” to his baser appetites and not to have actually advanced beyond the sphere attributed to Malkuth (i.e., the grade of Neophyte) at all, and stated as such in connection to recent revisions made to the Gnostic Mass:
  
  “Those newer names [of Saints, such as that of Grady McMurtry] are of persons who were only adherents to the Law of Thelema, thus men of earth. They are names of those who were simply drawn to the work of the Master Therion […] There are thousands of such persons who have similar attitudes and who will add to the general spread of Thelema all over the world. But this does not make them saints […] Indeed, many of those new names added are of persons who magically never left the sphere of Malkuth. Perhaps we have had enough of the ignorance of persons who add unwarranted names to the list of saints?” (sourced from the (C).O.T.O.’s The Magical Link dated January III.xvi [1987 E.V.])
  
  “If you are in doubt as to the power of a Magus creating a universe, think of the OTO today and how much it has spread.”
  
  Well, I think of it and frankly I don’t think that much. The “(c)OTO” has certainly grown in numbers, but even that rapid growth seemed to have plateaued out after Grady died and has certainly not carried on proportionally let alone exponentially since. That is if one regards growth in numbers as particularly significant anyway, which I don’t — and neither did Phyllis McMurtry (mentioned above) either, apparently, with her comment:
  
  “It would have been better, I think, to let the O.T.O. grow VERY slowly and train people to be of higher Grades truly, instead of thrusting this stuff on them which they have no idea how to live up to. […]The slow growth was my idea but Bill [Heidrick] seems to think rapid growth aids his own power and Grady likewise.”
  
  Sorry Erica, but this sort of unjustified quasi-deification manages to get my own bullshit meter threatening to go off the scale! With this sort of extreme level of belief (or blind credence) I wouldn’t be surprised if someone isn’t also declaring that McMurtry was not only a Magus but an Ipsissimus to boot – it’s just that he was so faultless (in terms of his own progression through the grades) he didn’t put it around (as per was the requirement)?
  
  The Virtue of a Neophyte is Discrimination; lacking that it is almost impossible to proceed further (and whether one is an Outer or even an Inner Adept in Tiphereth or not.)
  
  Yours as Ever in the Great Work:
  N Joy

Jamie J Barter on September 23, 2016 at 1:57 pm

Don’t get me wrong – I like Laylah too! – but does she take precedence over Rose the original Scarlet Woman, or even La Sublime Leah? (Some might even volunteer the ‘elemental’ ex of Jack Parsons & would-be avatar of Babalon herself, Marjorie Cameron!)

Positively bedazzled by a pageant of beauty (iconographically),
Norma N Joy Conquest

Jamie J Barter on September 23, 2016 at 6:41 pm

Reading back my comment, I feel maybe I ought to have highlighted the fact that it was prompted by the first sentence featured that “Leila ‘Laylah’ Waddell is perhaps the most iconic woman of Thelema”, rather than it coming across as being some sort of an adverse reflection on her suitability to qualify for a commemorative memorial ahead of Rose, Leah and, er, Marjorie…

N Joy

lashtal on September 23, 2016 at 6:45 pm

I would have thought it’s obvious that the OTO in Australia would focus their attention on the Australian, Leila Waddell? As regards ‘iconic’ – her image (as above) is probably far more widely recognised than any photograph of Leah.

Jamie J Barter on September 23, 2016 at 7:17 pm

Good points, Paul, though I was speaking more generally (globally) & arguably Marjorie Cameron’s startling flame-haired image from Kenneth Anger’s cinematography is even more widely recognisable to a contemporary audience.

N joy

lashtal on September 24, 2016 at 10:33 am

Updated to include instructions for making international contributions.

lashtal on September 24, 2016 at 1:17 pm

Reading this one now: really rather engaging. An impressive work. The best thing yet from Gary Lachman.

christibrany on September 27, 2016 at 3:29 pm

Update per David’s site: late October 2016 is the new release date.

Looking forward to this one!

lashtal on October 3, 2016 at 11:01 pm

This episode of the podcast and the one preceding it are really rather impressive.

starla on October 13, 2016 at 7:48 pm

Excellent portrait, I don’t recall seeing it before.

the_real_simon_iff on October 13, 2016 at 10:56 pm

Yep, a real nice one. 93’s…

frater_anubis on October 15, 2016 at 8:27 pm

93 93/93

Many belived that AC could read your mind by turning on those piercing eyes. It was said that he would en-trance people by giving them the ‘eye’ and take them with him on some manic moneymaking or other enterprise…… being in his company in a room where there was no immediate means of escape could be overpowering, even when he was of advanced years.
Johnny

lashtal on October 16, 2016 at 1:02 am

Sale abandoned. Too many time wasters.

Q: ‘How much for that book?’

R: ‘Well, I’m asking…’

Q [Interrupting]: ‘That’s too much, I once saw one on eBay for…’

Not sure why anyone would want to sell books for a living!

christibrany on October 22, 2016 at 8:56 pm

Paul I never saw any listings on this site?
I was waiting this whole time.
Perhaps I did it wrong, but I was under the impression you were going to list them all under FOR SALE but I never saw anything new; it was always that same Equinox book (I think) that has been there forever.

lashtal on October 22, 2016 at 9:05 pm

No, @christibrany, as mentioned in the Comment above yours, I abandoned the sale – having planned to publish a list on 12 October.

Quite simply, mentioning a handful of items on the Facebook posts generated such an enormous number of silly time-wasting responses that the prospect of generating a proportionate number of responses to a planned list of 300+ books was massively unattractive!

frater_anubis on October 24, 2016 at 9:54 pm

If you must sell your library, the best plan might be to take the catalogue to one of the specialist bookshops such as Treadwells, Atlantis or even Wieser and see what is offered for the collection.

daopig on October 30, 2016 at 5:57 am

Considering Delingpole has a ~way with words~, it is real shame that he failed to mention that Crowley – apart from his courageous self-exposure to ignorant idiots who number almost all of us, was also a bone fide master of the English language. Something very few humans have ever managed to achieve after Shakespeare. And Delingpole, as great an – unconscious – word-magician as he appears to be, will never be able to wear such a grand Edwardian literary hat without looking utterly, modernistically absurd.

lashtal on November 6, 2016 at 12:06 pm

Man, Myth and Magic – original TV advertisement.

https://youtu.be/Zt1ZE6_BYvg

Jamie J Barter on November 17, 2016 at 8:20 pm

“As befits a comedy, the reference is essentially humorous” – a summation which stretches my understanding of the words “comedy” and “humorous” just a little! Throughout the whole rather dismal thing, the only piece which remotely caused my lip muscles to twitch in an amused fashion occurred between 5:20 and 5:56 (approximately) on the subject of the “disneyfication” of Wernher vonBraun. The rest was appalling – appallingly unfunny and appallingly inaccurate and imprecise (perhaps not so surprisingly…but at least they didn’t get around to mentioning Jack’s mother’s dog!)

Help me, I think my sides may be in danger of splitting (- not!),

Norma n Jy Conquest

lashtal on November 18, 2016 at 1:06 pm

The latest edition of this book is now available to registered members for free – check out the Downloads section.

lashtal on November 30, 2016 at 1:57 pm

I had the great pleasure of attending the Exhibition Preview yesterday evening. Beautiful art displayed beautifully!

aldis on December 3, 2016 at 1:57 am

I have been interested in Theravada Buddhism for a long time – about as long as as I’ve been interested in Aleister Crowley’s work. Of note is the fact that one of Crowley’s first teachers, Alan Bennett, eventually retired to Ceylon and became a Theravada monk.

aldis on December 3, 2016 at 2:11 am

I too have a library, though a much smaller one. I’m seeking to release most of it as part of an ongoing project to reduce the number of possessions that I no longer use.

Thank you for posting about your experience with book sales. It has probably saved me some fruitless effort.

While money would be much appreciated, my main goal is to pass on a themed collect to a group or individual who could put it to use.

ptoner on December 8, 2016 at 12:16 pm

Attended on Monday 5th December. Really was blown away by the range styles and materials that AOS used.
A must see for anyone with an interest, that is in the area.

lashtal on December 9, 2016 at 8:31 pm

Fixed now… Thanks @eol

lashtal on December 13, 2016 at 11:12 am

Placed my order today for this Print On Demand title. Will report back when it arrives.

William Thirteen on December 13, 2016 at 12:00 pm

As did I. I hope it is not as poor quality as the Jane Wolfe book. When I want to wear out my eyes over barely readable text, i head for the archives and do it with the real stuff.

William Thirteen on December 14, 2016 at 1:12 pm

Initial impressions from the Kindle edition; primarily KG’s correspondence with the Californians in the 40s/50s/60s. I found none of the German correspondence with Hopfer, Küntzel, Metzger, Lekve, Petersen, etc or anything before 1928. The notes are quite basic, mainly a reference of the persons named in the correspondence. The design is negligible – pretty much just a dump of the PDF. Perhaps a useful reference for some, definitely a cheap thrill but not something you’d take home to meet the parents.

ptoner on December 15, 2016 at 8:17 am

From Jerry Edward Cornelius on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/jerry.e.cornelius?fref=nf&pnref=story

My copy of ‘Karl Germer: Selected Letters 1928-1962’ arrived. I was looking forward to reading this book but within a few days I came to the conclusion that I cannot recommend it. Although it’s nice to have some of the Germer Letters in a book format, after all, something is better than nothing, I see the over-all book as being utterly useless for academics, serious magician, scholars or even historians in general. Harsh? Perhaps but it is neither indexed nor footnoted adequately. The approximate two page bio trying to explain who Karl Germer was and why I should read his letters is amateurish at best, bordering on being a lame High School paper. I’d give it a ‘C’.
Then the very first letter in the book is address to “Jane” but in the first paragraph Germer mentions her in the third person by name, i.e. ‘Jane Wolfe’ which is then footnoted to explain who ‘Jane Wolfe’ is but this leads us to assume that the Jane to whom the letter is written and the Jane mentioned in the first paragraph are two different people. They’re not. The footnote is simply inappropriately placed. The book also tries to identify others mentioned in the letters in the footnotes throughout the book but right on page one the letter mentions “Dorothy” but who is she? They don’t identify her. I knew who she was, she was Crowley’s mistress but I fear the average reader will be lost. Throughout the book you’ll be scratching your head wondering who is who.
Worst of all, it’s not indexed! As one reads though its pages you’ll find gems from page to page but you’re supposed to remember where you read them in a 389 page book or you’ll never be able to find them again. Be forewarned, you have to create your own Index as you go along or you’ll be lost.
There is so much more wrong with this book but I think you get the picture. It is simply an ‘unfinished manuscript’ rushed into press and not carefully thought through by a descent editor. In my opinion any simpleton can enter letters into a computer but if you can’t put them into a user friendly format, why bother? Still, it was a fun book to read and yes error slip into all books and mistakes are made because, after all, we’re only human … but what is this over-all book saying about the magickal image and teachings of the College of (cough cough) or rather the High School of Thelema?

William Thirteen on December 16, 2016 at 4:50 pm

Yes, I can second that opinion. One might ask – what is the purpose of this book if not to provide an academic reference to selected correspondence of Karl Germer?

Michael Staley on December 22, 2016 at 8:34 pm

I’d love to read a good ‘Selected Correspondence’ of at least a representative sample of Germer’s letters over the years. There are many sets of correspondence about. For instance, a batch of letters to Ithell Colquhoun was on the market about ten years ago. Whist researchiing the Jones-Yorke correspondence of 1948 and 1949 I came across several letters from Germer to Jones which were, to say the least, extremely interesting. I certainly agree with Jerry Cornelius that it’s a shame that there is no index.

Does anyone know if the letters from Germer to Crowley are extant? I have seen a pdf of Crowley’s letters to Germer, but not Germer’s to Crowley.

christibrany on December 30, 2016 at 9:46 pm

Paul sorry its late but I hope your Xmas was great and London is awesome.
Although I don’t post much BC I am workng on my gradework I still love to read the news and posts.
Keep up the Great Work

93s!

lashtal on December 31, 2016 at 5:41 pm

Thanks for the kind words, @christibrany!