Aleister Crowley & Thelemic Magick

Hell of a Guru

Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law

Aleister Crowley may have died in 1947, but his influence is still very much felt by the magician of the new aeon. The CD soundtrack The Beast Speaks sold 8000 copies since its release in 1993, and the paperback edition of Crowley's Confessions was number two in Virgin Megastores top ten books. The modern magician is no slavish follower or member of some mind bending cult. Crowley's watch word was Thelema (The Crowleian pronunciation is Theh-LEE-mah, the accent being on the vowel of the second syllable, Greek speakers say the accent should be on the vowel of the first syllable for it to be pronounced right....ThEH-lee-mah) - which means [free] Will. Those who choose to follow this magical path aim to de-condition themselves, to develop independence of spirit and ultimately to become their very own self. One of the many attractions of Crowley's type of magick, was his advice to follow one's own way and create your own life path. You don't need a priest or a judge to tell you how to act - work it out for yourself.

As part of the process of developing self-knowledge, Crowley advocated the practice of magick. This he defined as 'the science and art of causing change in conformity with will.'

Thelemic magick can be either a system or an approach to the magick of any tradition, e.g. Hermetic, Ceremonial, even Witchcraft. In Thelema, as in all other styles of magick, there are at least two different types of magical entity - the 'Masonic' and the 'Rosicrucian'. The Masonic tends to be organized into definite hierarchical orders; whereas the Rosicrucian is more freeform, often a mere network of peers. The authors of what follows reflect many of these different styles of Thelemic magick and reading what they say is perhaps the best way to grasp what Thelemic magick is all about.

As part of the process of developing self knowledge, Crowley advocated the practice of Magick. This he defined as 'the science and art of causing change in conformity with will.' The history of magick is the history of human beings. Many of the things that are now labelled 'culture' began as experiments in ritual and magick viz. drama, music, art, dance, philosophy and poetry etc., etc. Magick has played a role in many key moments of our history, for example during the fourteenth century, it was the philosophy of the Renaissance. In our own time, many modern art movements have been driven by magical ideas, for instance, the first abstract painting was made by the Theosophist Kandinsky. Magick is a valuable and reputable activity to undertake.

The Thelemic Symposium was hosted by the Oxford Golden Dawn Occult Society, and was hugely influential on the burgeoning occult scene of the time. It was also a haven of non-sectarianism and inclusivity. To supplement this proceedings volume, the editor has added fourteen of his recent essays exploring the magick of Aleister Crowley and his people, how to start, core practices such as sexual magick, Ma'at magick, the problem of evil, Typhonian mysteries and more. There is also a selection of some of the best presentations from the symposium, highlighting notable areas of interest, from Snoo Wilson, Shantidevi, Robert Ansell, Michael Staley, Jan Fries, Steve Nicholls, Dave Lee, and more.