Aleister Crowley

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lazarusx

Well-known member
I was curious to know if anyone has read Crowley's writings on Astrology; i think the book that has been published are the 'gathered' writings from Crowley that have been edited into the publication 'The General Principles of Astrology' by Evangeline Adams.

Im interested in his perspective of Astrology considering his background in occultism, mysticism and magik, and the fact that these writings were well before Linda Goodman and the more psychological approach that astrology takes today.

Anyone had the chance to read any of it and have an opinion?
 
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lazarusx

Well-known member
Roy said:
yes, i've read the book about 5-6 months ago. It's basically about the esoteric connection between Astrology and the Occult, the problem he doesn't connect them at all, just goes onto tangents and such.
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Yeah i had a feeling it might be a bit like that..

Roy said:
If you're really interested between the connection of the Occult and Astrology, you should look up Manly P Halls writing, Manly's probably the most learned occultist ever, you should talk to Dr. Farr about that, I think he's been to his lectures
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Awesome, thanks for the information; yeah im just starting to explore other avenues with astrology, and its relation to the occult is of some interest to me.
 
Mark

Mark

Well-known member
I would also suggest other avenues of research. Aleister Crowley was a nutjob who spent his whole life in the pursuit of self-indulgence and the fear of the general public. The ancient Hebrew he started with wasn't good enough, so he and some friends invented "Enochian," which is more or less non-sensical as a language. He moved to the shores of Loch Ness in his later life (not kidding) and did his best to make sure everyone saw him as special or dangerous. What he calls "philosophy" is nothing but a heap of unquestioned opinions rolled up into a ball. What he calls "spiritual truth" is nothing but a self-concocted tale that misunderstands the very foundation of magic. He could perhaps be the worst possible resource for learning the magical side of astrology.

P.S. Look up some of Crowley's associates during and after his time with the golden dawn boys. Several of them started their own "religions" that are more or less based on letting the leaders (themselves) do whatever they want. And, if you've never researched this before, you might be surprised at the "whatever they want" that they really did!
 
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lazarusx

Well-known member
Mark said:
I would also suggest other avenues of research. Aleister Crowley was a nutjob who spent his whole life in the pursuit of self-indulgence and the fear of the general public. The ancient Hebrew he started with wasn't good enough, so he and some friends invented "Enochian," which is more or less non-sensical as a language. He moved to the shores of Loch Ness in his later life (not kidding) and did his best to make sure everyone saw him as special or dangerous. What he calls "philosophy" is nothing but a heap of unquestioned opinions rolled up into a ball. What he calls "spiritual truth" is nothing but a self-concocted tale that misunderstands the very foundation of magic. He could perhaps be the worst possible resource for learning the magical side of astrology.

P.S. Look up some of Crowley's associates during and after his time with the golden dawn boys. Several of them started their own "religions" that are more or less based on letting the leaders (themselves) do whatever they want. And, if you've never researched this before, you might be surprised at the "whatever they want" that they really did!
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Ha, wow.. yeah i know very little about Crowley apart from the obvious so i appreciate the feedback, i just noticed he had written about astrology so i was curious; but from the looks of it.. the writings themselves seem more like incoherent ramblings.
 
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dr. farr

Well-known member
Plus the available Crowley astrology book ranges in price from $60 to over $100!!
You could pretty much treat yourself to an entire astrological (or occult) basic education for the price of that 1 book!
 
RaptInReverie

RaptInReverie

Well-known member
lazarusx said:
Im interested in his perspective of Astrology considering his background in occultism, mysticism and magik, and the fact that these writings were well before Linda Goodman and the more psychological approach that astrology takes today.

Anyone had the chance to read any of it and have an opinion?
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Words to the wise: It is utterly pointless to engage the twits on this forum in a discussion on the occult.

But, Crowley's approach to Astrology incorporated the planetary correspondences to the sephiroth on the Tree of Life. This is the road I want to go with Astrology because it blends two subjects I find equally intriguing.
 
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dr. farr

Well-known member
Papus and Mathers (along with Mathers' GD confreres) did the same, and Mathers "take" on astrology is quite interesting (see Part IV in Colquhoun"s "Sword of Wisdom" regarding a few of Mathers astrological concepts) I recovered what is alleged to be a copy of a Mathers' "Flying Role" on astrology from a raft of papers/newletters I purchased years ago at an auction of the First Temple of Astrology organization in Los Angeles, CA; its quite interesting (I had posted a good deal from this "Flying Roll" on another astrology forum, but later deleted this material because of the controversy my application of it on their mundane section, stirred up with the operators of that site)
 
Mark

Mark

Well-known member
RaptInReverie said:
Words to the wise: It is utterly pointless to engage the twits on this forum in a discussion on the occult.

But, Crowley's approach to Astrology incorporated the planetary correspondences to the sephiroth on the Tree of Life. This is the road I want to go with Astrology because it blends two subjects I find equally intriguing.
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Such a discussion would only be pointless if the "twits on this forum" aren't already more experienced than you are. The sephirot were associated with planetary influences more than a thousand years ago. In fact, as is Hebrew habit, that information of great value was protected by disinformation. Many erroneous lists were made and circulated to make sure that no one who wasn't already in the fold could determine which list was real. If you tried to research it, you could easily find five or six different attributions of the sephirot to the planets and have no indication of which one is correct. Crowley didn't add anything to this pursuit that wasn't already there. Perhaps, if you would like to study in this area, you should start by reading a book about the biblical Hebrew language before you read books about Crowley!
 
RaptInReverie

RaptInReverie

Well-known member
Mark said:
The sephirot were associated with planetary influences more than a thousand years ago.
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And I suppose you believe the 22 paths were associated with the Tarot more than a thousand years ago too?

Mark said:
In fact, as is Hebrew habit, that information of great value was protected by disinformation. Many erroneous lists were made and circulated to make sure that no one who wasn't already in the fold could determine which list was real.
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Really? I thought that Kabalah was an oral tradition.

Mark said:
If you tried to research it, you could easily find five or six different attributions of the sephirot to the planets and have no indication of which one is correct.
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There is no correct set of attributions. Perhaps some are more useful than others, but it is perfectly ok to come up with and use your own system. I did.

Mark said:
Crowley didn't add anything to this pursuit that wasn't already there. Perhaps, if you would like to study in this area, you should start by reading a book about the biblical Hebrew language before you read books about Crowley!
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Actually I do study the Hebrew language.
 
Mark

Mark

Well-known member
RaptInReverie: If anyone were to tell you the real history of the 22 paths that were made into the tarot, you would never believe it. :innocent:
 
RaptInReverie

RaptInReverie

Well-known member
Mark said:
RaptInReverie: If anyone were to tell you the real history of the 22 paths that were made into the tarot, you would never believe it. :innocent:
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PM me and we'll see.

Oh, and the "twits on this forum" remark was not directed at you or anyone else who commented on this particular thread.
 
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dr. farr

Well-known member
Of course the first kabbalistical astrological connections are described in the Sepher Yetzirah (Book of Formation), which scholars have speculated dates to the first 3 centuries AD (soon after the "Bihar", c 1st century)
The "Aesch Mezerapah" (Purifying Fire), several centuries later, makes somewhat different astrological allocations.
We find allocation of the Tree of Life Paths to Tarot Major Arcana symbols beginning in the 1800's, especially by Levi, Papus and Mathers/Westcott.
 
RaptInReverie

RaptInReverie

Well-known member
dr. farr said:
Of course the first kabbalistical astrological connections are described in the Sepher Yetzirah (Book of Formation), which scholars have speculated dates to the first 3 centuries AD (soon after the "Bihar", c 1st century)
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Yes, but I am specifically speaking of the planets being directly attributed to the sephiroth on the Tree of Life diagram, which didn't exist then (or at least not in the form we recognize today).
 
RaptInReverie

RaptInReverie

Well-known member
I totally agree, Sequestra. But, you have to admit that he was exceptionally eloquent and presented many interesting concepts in his works. As wicked and sordid as he was, I can at least appreciate the knowledge he gained from his experiences.
 
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sequestra

Well-known member
RaptInReverie said:
I totally agree, Sequestra. But, you have to admit that he was exceptionally eloquent and presented many interesting concepts in his works. As wicked and sordid as he was, I can at least appreciate the knowledge he gained from his experiences.
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Yes, I do agree on that count. You're hard to disagree with :wink:

I had an ex with that horrible picture of him wearing the triangle hat on his head while he was leaning on his palms tattooed all over his upper back... *Particularly tangential today*
 
RaptInReverie

RaptInReverie

Well-known member
sequestra said:
Yes, I do agree on that count. You're hard to disagree with :wink:

I had an ex with that horrible picture of him wearing the triangle hat on his head while he was leaning on his palms tattooed all over his upper back... *Particularly tangential today*
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You're the first person to tell me that. Maybe we're just similar in thought?

But, yeah, when I began hearing about Crowley, I never imagined I'd ever read or study his work. He was really disturbing and scary. But, when I actually sat down and read his books, he didn't come across as bad.
 
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