Aleister Crowley was an enigmatic and complicated man by any standard, and would have been so had he never picked up the mantle of the magician. Given a lifetime of work by a prolific author—coupled with several lifetimes’ worth of controversy!—it is no wonder that so many people miss the point of Crowley entirely. It is easier to simply shrug one’s shoulders, accept the popular opinion, and accept his reputation as “the wickedest man in the world.” That’s the danger of a dialectic: you miss all the finer points that linger between the black and the white.
When I first encountered Crowley, though I had studied magick for several years, I wasn’t sure what to make of him either. I could tell that he was a genius and that he was speaking at a level I did not fully understand. While many of the things he wrote shocked my sensibilities, I also had a growing suspicion that there was something more going on than what was presented on the page. There were points where he was deliberately provocative, brazenly and even absurdly savage, yet I could not help but feel that it was written in a way that was meant to conceal something deeper. I would also come to recognize that some of those same sensibilities Crowley was challenging, ideas that I considered fundamental to who I was as a person, were in fact holding me back from the person I was meant to be. Such, one may argue, is the nature of illumination.
One of the principal problems with Crowley is that you must read a lot of his work to even begin to understand what he is trying to convey. He can be exceptionally difficult for the beginner, writing as he did in veiled analogy and with reference to contemporary events that stymie even those well acquainted with the man and his work. At times it can feel like having half an equation, with the other half scattered across a dozen or so other unreferenced texts, if even there. Include the fact that he quite literally could not put certain ideas in print without trouble from the authorities, especially ideas related to sex, putting the pieces together can be difficult. All I can say is keep reading.
In writing this work, keeping a consistently narrow scope of introductory material was paramount. Those familiar with Crowley will argue, “Why didn’t you include … !” for one thing or another, which is fair enough. Not only did I recognize that any manageable introduction to Crowley would be inadequate, I have counted on it. For this reason, additional references and suggestions for further reading are included within the chapters themselves. From here, those interested in Crowley can begin looking deeper into his written works with some sense of direction and a foundation of basic knowledge. It is my sincere wish that anyone reading this ultimately comes to a point where they understand enough to say how they would have done it better!
My approach is to address Crowley in three distinct phases: history, philosophy, and practice. I begin with a short biography, since to understand Crowley’s life helps to better understand the context from which his philosophies arose. The second section begins to unfold that philosophy itself, Thelema, a word that means “will” in Greek. Finally, practices common to Thelemites, practitioners or followers of Thelema, are given to provide the reader an understanding of the practices identifiable with, if not unique to, Crowley’s legacy.
Now, to the point: Why Thelema? What, says the hardened critic, could the obtuse mystical philosophies of an eccentric, Victorian-born, middling poet, sexual deviant, devil worshipper, and drug addict possibly have to offer me? Such obviously biased and salacious accusations aside, now, as then, the answer is simple: Crowley shows us a method for spiritual attainment that focuses on the uniqueness of the individual rather than conformance to a creed, and one that ultimately leads you to the understanding of your own innate divinity. Casting aside aeons of adherence to a social order dominated by the impossible gods of sacrifice and restriction, Thelema represents a new age of spiritual development that empowers us all to discover our True Self through the manifestation of our True Will.
“Success is thy proof: argue not, convert not, talk not overmuch!”
—The Book of the Law, Chapter III, Verse 42