Aleister Crowley's Magick in Theory and Practice

[DarkSchneider]

I'm having a hard time reading this book, probably because I have a bootleg copy that was probably printed in someone's basement. I ordered it off of amazon. It's a strange misfit of a book. The text looks really like it was copied from someone's bad PDF version of the book, and the symbols or pictures are either absent or replaced by a jumbled mess of keys from a keyboard that aren't formatted correctly.

With that in mind, I'm wondering what the best place to start with this even is. The book is constantly referencing the Qabbalah which I have little to no experience with, or other works of Crowley like the Equinox. Should I read Book 4? Maybe get a better copy of Magick in Theory and Practice?

I have various Kabbalah books (if the "Qabbalah" and "Cabbalah" books are indeed different I have those too).

Can someone lay out a suggested reading list? Thank you.

[anodetonoone]

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/panmankey/ ... r-crowley/

I've come across this, since I've been planning to study Crowley's work myself. It might help you make sense of where to start.

[DarkSchneider]

Thank you friend I read the blog and I think I have some idea about where to start.

I own a few of these books, including Perdurabo.

[anodetonoone]

Oh, very good!

I´ve send you another link per email by the way.

[DarkSchneider]

I'd prefer a PM if possible. Thank you.

[anodetonoone]

Okay! Done.

[CCoburn]

It appears you and I have somewhat similar beginnings.
Qabalah and the Sephiroth were alien to me when I first heard Crowley mention them.

My initial starting point was a bunch of YouTube videos about Crowley that I downloaded
and watched on my TV. I also obtained some from Torrent sites.

Then at varying times I was doing massive downloads of PDFs. Not only Crowley, but also
books by Eliphas Levi, Macgregor Mathers, Dion fortune, H.P. Blavatsky, Ambelain, Cornelius
Agrippa, and Bardon. I probably left some out. But you should be able to find good
PDFs of all these as I have.

I have read very little of the massive amount of info I have downloaded. The Secret Doctrine
by blavatsky is HUGE. But very good so far.

One of the problems ultimately was that of the few stock Inv/Evo Rituals that I came across
I didn't care for. And I really wanted to start practicing. But I soon realized that I had gathered
enough and it was just a matter of constructing my own Ritual, thanks primarily to a decent
TOL layout, and Liber 777.

The Mystical Qabalah by Dion Fortune gives some good insight into the Sephiroth, and their Inverse.
It compliments Liber 777 very well. The Tree, and these two books can be a standalone system
for Magick, with a little creativity on the part of the Practitioner.

The darker side of Magick is also included here. If you know where to look.

Oh, also I would stay away from anything spelled "Cabala", etc.
Qabalah is the Occult spelling, Kabbalah is the Hebrew which is ok, and Cabala? I don't
know what the hell that is, probably some Christian spelling.

Cheers

[Eremita]

Hi there. As you probably know, Magick in Theory and Practice is one component of the larger Book 4. It should, theoretically, possibly, hopefully, make more sense if you read the first two parts of that book first. But Crowley's entire system is based on Qabalah, so if you are unfamiliar with this Thelema will basically make no sense whatsoever - and even then half of Crowley's material is just pure nonsense. So if it all comes off as arcane and incomprehensible, that's because much of it is.

Of course, if you're reading a crappy PDF file with the words blurred out, that isn't going to help either. :p

I honestly can't recommend Crowley to anyone. I don't feel that any of his material that I've read has been of much use to me. Some of his poetry is wonderful, but he was the 20th century's poorest teacher of occultism - and this by design. If you want to understand Thelema, read the work of his secretary, Israel Regardie. They approach things from the same angle, but Regardie was an infinitely better writer with an infinitely smaller ego.

P.S. I hope you're doing well, DS, good to see you about.

[WillowDarkWytch]

Note: Kabbalah is Jew spelling, Qabbalah is Occult spelling, Cabala or Cabbalah is Christian Esoterism spelling. [gz]

[DarkSchneider]

@Spida

I have obtained most of those pdfs. I think it's mostly just reading off a computer that's a bit distracting for me whereas the format of a book is more natural for me. Heck I don't even think I finish many occult books. I'm better at novels. It's nice to know I'm not alone in my explorations of this subject. Thank you for elaborating on which books should assist me.

@Eremita

Thank you for the kind wishes

I own Book 4 and I've fortunately amassed a large collection of books, including Crowley's other works. Though Magick in Theory and Practice was a gift from a friend in Ontario Via Amazon. I guess we should have checked more carefully but we though it was an affordable copy. It had few reviews which should have indicated to us there was a problem.

It's not so much that I want to study Thelema, although it does intrigue me. I thought Crowley was an interesting figure and his notoriety, his excessive living was something like a Rock Star of magick. I was curious about his material and collected them as a hobby. But I'm finding his work very hard to grasp. But now that you've made some other suggestions and expelled this notion that he was the "ultimate" magician, I feel MUCH better knowing I don't have to go through it. Israel Regardie seems a lot more appealing and I've heard of him. I shall look for his works

@WillowDarkWytch

Thank you for clearing up which is which I've heard those definitions before but I wanted to be sure on it.