Aleister Crowley is an interesting subject of study to magicians. He is both: a failure and a success. Those who strive for the Divine within know that ‘Homo est Deus’. I hereby declare that EVERY HUMAN IS FREE, if (s)he accepts the resposibilty of being a human. But then again, Man is God, as it were. Affix this to every church and every governmental building. Absorb this ‘Zen Dogma’: YOU ARE FREE! 
“the law of
the strong:
this is our law
and the joy
of the world.” AL. II. 2
“Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.” –AL. I. 40
“thou hast no right but to do thy will. Do that, and no other shall say nay.” –AL. I. 42-3
“Every man and every woman is a star.” –AL. I. 3
There is no god but man.
1. Man has the right to live by his own law– to live in the way that he wills to do:
to work as he will:
to play as he will:
to rest as he will:
to die when and how he will.
2. Man has the right to eat what he will: to drink what he will:
to dwell where he will:
to move as he will on the face of the earth.
3. Man has the right to think what he will: to speak what he will:
to write what he will:
to draw, paint, carve, etch, mould, build as he will:
to dress as he will.
4. Man has the right to love as he will:– “take your fill and will of love as ye will,
when, where, and with whom ye will.” –AL. I. 51 5. Man has the right to kill those who would thwart these rights. “the slaves shall serve.” –AL. II. 58 “Love is the law, love under will.” –AL. I. 57 
Hi there, this is really funny because I have recently been doing some reading of Crowley’s Magick Without Tears because I had seen a part long time ago on the rune net page and wanted to read more of it.
And there comes this mail…
One of the things I am always wondering about is the numerical connection of things.
I know nothing of Kabbalah but I have always been curious about finding the rune numbers everywhere e.g. adding up numbers on a clock and seeing what rune it gives me or the like.
Crowley does talk a whole lot about Kabbalah, any thoughts on that?
One of the blessings which is also a cures to all humans is the thirst for power/control of some sort. Its in all of us to a dregree.
From what is shared here, I see nothing mentioned of restraint. Not even the classic “an ye harm none” clause.
“Man has the right to love as he will:– “take your fill and will of love as ye will, when, where, and with whom ye will.” –AL. I. 51 5″
Does this mean I can rape my neighbor’s wife, and his daughter no matter her age… if it be my will?
Maybe its my upbringing coming through here, but I would think that there would be some restraint. A read of the Eddas, the Havamal for example, and others clearly discuss boundaries that were understood. Without them, imagine the chaos of the clash of wills.
Nordhri
“An Ye Harm None” is not too bad as a qualifier, but I’m more incline to think that “An Ye Be Willing To Accept All Consequences” is a bit closer to how things really work.
So if you really want to rape your neighbours wife and daughter, go for it. Your neighbour might not be too happy about it. Nor will the cops. Nor will the rest of the neighbourhood, for that matter. Actually, now that I think about it, even I’m starting to feel unhappy about it and I don’t even know the women involved. (Nor has it actually happened, but that does nothing to diminish my emotional distaste for rape.)
Does that put things in context.
To Dragonblue24: ‘Magick Without Tears’ are very nice letters that Crowley has written to a female student, as far as I remember. I think that Kabbalah is really the basis of everything in Crowley’s system of magick. Without a grounded understanding of the Kabbalah Crowley’s body of work is a closed book.
A good introduction still is Dion Fortune’s ‘The Mystical Kabalah’. The best PRACTICAL introduction to Crowley’s system of Thelema is certainly ‘Abrahadabra’ by Rodney Orpheus. However, I’m really not into Crowley’s system anymore. I think it’s rather boring. I remember a time in my life, when ‘I saw numbers everywhere’ and everything seemed so meaningful and magical. But it’s like with all kind of ‘visions’. They pass…
…I remember a Zen story, where a student ran to his Master and told him about great visions of Buddha that he was experiencing, believing that this was a sign of great progress in his metitations. The Master seemed to be totally unperturbed and said: “Don’t be afraid. They will go away.”
Yeah, they always quote this: “Man has the right to love as he will:– “take your fill and will of love as ye will, when, where, and with whom ye will.” And most people dislike the idea that “Man has the right to kill those who would thwart these rights.” However, raping is not True Will, but rather a lower instinct not controlled by Will. So from my reading of “Liber OZ” you are NOT allowed to rape. As John Balance put it: “If you want to fuck a dog on the street and you know it’s obliging, then it’s ok.” :-)
I know this text for a very long time and I’m amused, when people find it offending, or something like that. We have to see the cultural context in which this text has been written. Crowley found himself in a sexually oppressive society. He was a bisexual and I don’t know exactly, but I think that homosexuality has been considered a crime at that time. Looking at the sheer weirdness in ‘Bible Belt’ America, where Darwin is considered a liar (really, just think about it!), I don’t know, if the main message of Liber OZ hasn’t still lost its actuality.
Thelema is an ideology. Like any ideology it strives for some utopia. The “perfect world” of Thelema would be enlightened anarchism, I imagine. To me the main message is that “There is no god but man”. It encourages man to strive for the impossible, to live his life in freedom and strength. Odin would like that…
The core moral code of Thelema is that as soon as someone is oppressing the will of someone else, (s)he is not longer excersising his/her True Will. So, when it says “take your fill and will of love as ye will, when, where, and with whom ye will”, it’s obvious that for this to happen you need TWO people, who agree on this. For such an agreement to happen both must know what they are talking about, which means – in a true logical fashion – that both need to be adults.
Thelema is very much a Christian idea, when you interpret it as God’s Will. But as Crowley was a neo-gnostic, he believed that God resides in Man. So (and most Christians just don’t get it) Crowley stands very much in the tradition of Christian mysticism. When you strip away the whole “666”-stuff you will find not much creativity. Crowley has been a very creative ‘thief’, not so much an inventor. “Do what thou wilt” then becomes far more “Do what thy Higher Self will”. It’s not a hedonistic, ‘satanic’ phrase that instructs you to become an ego-blown rapist! Ultimately, it is the opposite of it: it’s about taking care and control. But in Thelema the individual is sacred. Thus excersising your True Will becomes a sacred duty: “thou hast no right but to do thy will. Do that, and no other shall say nay.”
We really have to get away from these simplistic interpretations, often mixed with malign intentions, that try to put Crowley off as some eccentric weido who was promting a philosophy of hedonistic egotism. LaVey hasn’t been helpful here, but to me it’s obvious that Crowley had some very important things to say and it’s time to take him seriously – in academia and beyond.
I’m really saddened when I see how Crowley is perceived and presented by the media, the ‘consciousness industry’ as it were, and how his profoundity, honesty and limitless courage are disgraced by academics. I really do believe in the statement of Liber OZ and I’m absolutely convinced that it’s a document that honours the individual and her/his freedom.
Actually in one of the letters Crowley writes that he went to Paris all excited to meet some chick he knew in order to have sex and smoke some opium with her.
But two weeks went by and neither happened and his bubble burst.
The way he writes it is quite funny and really shows that he certainly did not always get his fill like all other human men too.
But generally what Crowley is concerned I so far simply enjoy the way Magic Without Tears is written, quite witty and interesting. Very down to earth and with humor even hinting at that all this is just his opinion.
For me one of my dogmas is good old Bob Dobbs “to hell with them if they can’t take a joke” and that is for me very much the spirit of Odin.
Of course to Hel with me if I can’t take one as well… ;-))
I understand that is Crowley’s theory, that raping etc. isn’t really anybodies “true will”, but I still like the consequences thesis better.
Oh yes. I still remember the second…;-)
93!
Is this Carsten? You mean the second degree initiation in OTO. Yeah, yeah, eine Zeit, die man nie vergisst…