The Book of Lies

The description Crowley gives of his 1913 Book of Lies might equally apply to the Book of Thoth and many of his other works; “At first sight the book is a jumble of nonsense intended to insult the reader. It requires infinite study, sympathy, intuition and initiation”. [506] However, it is the work in which he published information alluding to his knowledge of sexual magick and contains many witticisms, puzzles and mystical commentary.

The ninety-three sections are dense with Kabbalah and scattered with sexual puns, making very strange bed-fellows, but there is not much in the way of tarot to be found in the text. It does give the reader a sense of Crowley’s playful and wildly associative thinking and makes the Book of Thoth look an easier read in comparison.