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/lit/ - Literature

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4642916 No.4642916 [Reply] [Original]

"do what thou wilt"
what are your thoughts on the wickedest man on earth ?

>> No.4642934

>>4642916
boring and just borrowed from others.

>> No.4642941

>>4642934
please elaborate

>> No.4642995

nigga waz kray kray

>> No.4643018

why would somebody turn to occultism during the peak of scientific breakthroughs?

pleb/10, would not hang out with him

>> No.4643027

>>4643018
despite all the drugs and sex this guy was having you wouldn't want to chill with him

>> No.4643034

>>4642916
fabricated occultism is for faggots.

>> No.4643037
File: 44 KB, 718x501, 1394335834931.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
4643037

>>4643018
Dude... please.
Check this pic of Fernando Pessoa, one of the biggest patricians hanging out with ol Crowley.

>> No.4643057

>>4643037
>lonely lil fag
>patrician
ok

>> No.4643162

>>4642916
What are your thoughts on him OP? Do you believe he deserved such a title?

>> No.4643179

I mean, from a literary standpoint? The Book of the Law is a work of art. Teenagers who are self conscious about being teenagers will write it off as edgy, but it's essentially DIY mythology done fairly well...it doesn't really matter whether or not the author is a fraud.

>> No.4643199

>>4643162
OP here
i think he was completely fucking deranged killing cats and drinking their blood, making his girlfriends have sex with a goat and then slitting the goats neck once it reached climax, he was a horrid human being but god damn was the fucking interesting like Charles Manson; crazy as fuck but interesting

>> No.4643207

>>4643199
he really did all that?

>> No.4643228

>>4643207
People don't exactly get into the occult for the decorum.

>> No.4643227

>>4642916
>[W]hat are your thoughts on the wickedest man on earth ?
Which ones? Milton Friedman or Paul Weyrich?
Thank goodness they're both dead, but jeeezsh, what a mess.

>> No.4643233

>>4643207
watch the documentary
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12_PUYtkZBc
talks about it all

>> No.4643239

>>4643227
posts like this are why I hate you

>> No.4643248

>>4643233
>>4643207
its really interesting

>> No.4643420

>>4643018
Because science will never make you feel larger than yourself.

>> No.4643456

>>4642916

Crowley is obviously a complicated figure. I've never met the man so I cannot judge his character.

This is a literature board.

What have you read from Crowley? Do you call yourself a Thelemite OP? >>4642916

>> No.4643483

I like the song. Randy Rhoads could shred.

>> No.4643490

>>4643456
OP again
no honestly i just found out about him today after watching a documentary about satanism and his name was mention and i looked him up
i looked him and and saw a documentary on him and then posted here
i am for sure going to read some of his books

>> No.4643520
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4643520

>>4643239
Threads like this are why I summon you from you fiery pit!

>> No.4643526

>>4643520
>your
Damn "R" key.

>> No.4643551

I read his poem about Sir Palamedes and really liked it.

>And in the centre is a sight
>Of hateful love and shameless shame:
>A recreant Abyssinian knight
>Sports grossly with a wanton dame.

>How black and swinish is the knave!
>His hellish grunt, his bestial grin;
>Her trilling laugh, her gesture suave,
>The cool sweat swimming on her skin!

>She looks and laughs upon the knight,
>Then turns to buss the blubber mouth,
>Draining the dregs of that black blight
>Of wine to ease their double drouth!

Great stuff.

>> No.4643571

i've been interested in him for a while, but haven't read any of his works. where should i start?

>> No.4643601

The documentary posted deliberates avoids talking about his actual religious beliefs and practices. But I'll save you all the trouble by saying they're self-indulgent horseshit and completely worthless. The guy was basically a career con artist

>> No.4643722

>>4643601

The man was a charismatic poet and charlatan.

He claimed to have the secret elixir of life and opened a clinic. Read the account in Amrita.

>> No.4643729

>>4643722

http://hermetic.com/crowley/libers/lib343.html

Some Comments on the Elixir of Life
Extracted from the Magical Record of the Beast 666
for the year 1920 e.v.
By Aloster Kerval (Aleister Crowley)

>> No.4643775

Hardly the wickedest man on earth. He was contemporaneous with Hitler for Christ's sake. Obviously he was playing up shock value quite a bit in order to "earn" that title. In that light, I'd be inclined to view reports of drinking kitten blood as somewhat suspect. As far as comparisons go, I think Charles Manson was a lot more deranged than him (he actually killed people instead of just talking shit) but Crowley is definitely an inspiration for all kinds of crazies.

As someone who's wasted a bit of time on the subject I shall indulge you, Crowley is intimately interconnected with modern occultism, new age beliefs, Wicca, Scientology, "Satanism" and a whole host of other stupid ideologies. His own religion "Thelema" is basically an attempt at a synthetic religion which combines the various forms of eastern and western esotericism he was aware of at the time under the guise of a new gnosis having been revealed by ancient deities and secret chiefs and so on. This is actually a fairly clever idea but unfortunately his desire to be an edgemaster outweighs his insight. Nevertheless, there's some decent prose and poetry in the mix (albeit often obscured by attempts at making unnecessary numerological connections).

Since this is /lit/, I will offer some thoughts on his major works.

Diary of a Drug Fiend - drug novel turned propaganda piece for how you can overcome all addictions with *surprise* Crowley's religion (oddly enough, however, he himself was unable to kick the habit), probably his most famous work
Moonchild - another work of fiction, this time concerned with black magicians and white magicians and their attempts to capture magical children, weird but interesting
The Book of the Law - a "revealed" text transmitted supposedly in Cairo blah blah blah, the "bible" of Thelema, 50% brilliant, 50% bullshit
The Book of Lies - a sexy little number if you don't mind some pretentious wanker constantly talking down to you, fairly "trollish" but entertaining
Magick: Book 4 - the meat and bones of his occult system if you want to be a wizard (and who doesn't want to be a wizard?)

Then there are countless other smaller works. Most of these can be found online.

If you just want an overview of his thought by someone who "understands" him then I would recommend the following article by Robert Anton Wilson:

http://www.rawilsonfans.com/articles/GreatBeast.htm

Obviously, however, this is a bit of a puff piece. But, y'know, sometimes it takes both fakirs and fakers to show us the light.

If you have any further questions, feel free to ask.

>> No.4643797

>>4643775
>Since this is /lit/, I will offer some thoughts on his major works.

Thank you.

>> No.4644604

>>4643571
the book of the law
thats where OP's quote comes from

>> No.4644631

>>4643179
Liber al vel Legis a shit and is objectively one of the worst books on the English language.
>>4643571
The Book of Lies and then nowhere else because he ate his own jizz and said 'abrahadabrah'

>> No.4644636

>>4643775
Did he borrow much of his thoughts from the Indian religion?

>> No.4646077

I think that he had some good ideas. Possibly even some genuine religious insight.

If we all did know our "true will", our reason, our purpose, what we can do, and we all strove for it, helping each other out, keeping the knowledge of ourselves as a species in a great cosmic chain, we could accomplish great things.

But, like most occultists, he bought into his own hype and went nuts.

>> No.4646121

His writings on Cocaine are wonderful.

http://hermetic.com/crowley/international/xi/10/cocaine.html

>> No.4646131

Like any 20th century occultist, he built a solid mythology around himself, with tales of all sorts of shocking activities and goings-on. As it happens, I think he bought a lot of his own bs, but that doesn't mean it wasn't bs. He must have been extremely charismatic to have the influence that he had - he was clearly a hugely influential figure on modern occult movements such as the Ordo Templis Orientis, and Thelema has been very important to folks like the CoS, Temple of Set, those Golden Dawn folks, and so on.

All that said, I suspect for someone who doesn't buy his crap, he'd be incredibly annoying.

>> No.4646605
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4646605

>>4643057
>>lonely lil fag
That would be Bernardo Soares, who wrote the Book of Disquiet, Pessoa had many friends.

>> No.4647000

>>4646121

Wow.

I've no need, nor desire, to be any mans disciple, and am well armed against what charlatanisms as may pass my way; but, I'll give him his due - that is some powerful prose.

I think I'll spare a measure of time for study of Crowley in the near future.

>> No.4647008
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4647008

>wickedest man in the world
>hasn't killed anyone or fucked any kids

Hardly the wickedest man in the world

The average catholic priest is probably more wicked than he was.

>> No.4647013

>>4644631
>YouTube tier commenting

>> No.4647070

he had some bullshit theories but he didn't do very wicked shit

>> No.4647136

>>4642916
is he fly?

is he cool?

does he hang out with fink?

>inb4 too 1970's for you

>> No.4647347

There's no worthwhile moral or ethic that can't be lived without accepting that statement first.

If you're a good person, it magnifies your power to do good. If you're bad, then it doesn't. Most people are good, so it would probably lead to a more ethical society.

If you don't think this, you are probably a faggot.

It's only because society already feels the effects of good people doing what they will that indifferent people take up this idea it gets singled out as immoral. This misses what's actually happened. Its the intentions that matter, not the rule. The rule is good.

If you don't think this, you are probably very stupid.

>> No.4647371
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4647371

>>4647013
Have you read either of them? I'm busy transferring the files on my phone right now so I'm not sure when and from what plat form I can post the screns I have.

I do Like Liber CCCXXXIII but there is legitimately a spell in it about eating your own jizz in a cookie and saying 'abrahadabra'. Liber al vel Legis is batshit.

>> No.4647596

>>4643775
>http://www.rawilsonfans.com/articles/GreatBeast.htm

>XV -- The Devil
>A word about Evil; the Beast's frequent injunctions to "explore every possibility of the Self" and realize your True Will etc. have often been misunderstood, especially when quoted out of context, in which case he sounds battier than those armchair enthusiasts of mayhem and murder, Stirner and Nietzsche and Sorel.

Woah.

>> No.4647622

>>4647596
>armchair enthusiasts of mayhem and murder, Stirner and Nietzsche and Sorel

[plebbing intensifies]

>> No.4647917

>>4647596
>being mad at the top boys because they don't allow your little magic

>> No.4647939

>>4643018
why would anyone turn to science during the peak of medieval times?

>> No.4648319

"Love is the law, love under will."

>> No.4648581

He was more impressive than Anton Lavey, but that ain't saying much.

>> No.4648606

>>4647917
>>4647622
>>4647596
>dat reading comprehension

He is saying that people misunderstand Crowley's ideas on "exploring the self" and "realizing True Will" in the same way that people who are "enthusiasts of mayhem and murder" misunderstand the ideas of Stirner, Nietzsche and Sorel who they claim to love so much. Crowley is, along with those other guys, transformed into this crazy guy. He is criticizing those who are edgy as fuck guys and that end up making them sound edgy as fuck as well, leaving their ideas on the side.

You are missing out on RAW's sense of humor. Also, he quoted Nietzsche on several occasions and Stirner also sounds like someone he would like, to some extent.

>> No.4648978

>>4648606

RAW has a sense of humour that speaks more and more to me. Guerrilla ontology anyone?

>> No.4649225
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4649225

>>4648319
Crowley says a lot about this "will" but it has something to do with Schopenhauer's concept of will?

>> No.4649312

>>4649225
yes

>> No.4649354

>>4649225
It's moreso will in a religious sense like "let not my will but thine be done" hence the capitalization.