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Page 142 of 1971913 · PDF PAGE 530
…pon the water. A shocking disaster resulted: almost all that multitude was drowned, and the hallucination was only extinguished with the life of the greater number of those unhappy visionaries. Human thought creates what it imagines ; the phantoms of superstition project their deformities on the astral light, and live upon the same terrors which give them birth. That black giant which reaches its wings from east to west to hide the light from the world, that monster who devours souls, that frightful divinity of ignorance and fear—in a word, the…
1913 · PDF PAGE 551
…admit that such writers as MM. de Mirville and Gougenet Desmousseaux make themselves not a little his accomplices ! The laws of physical life are inexorable, and in his animal nature man is born a slave to fatality; it is by dint of strug- gles against his instincts that he may win moral freedom. Two different existences are then possible for us upon the earth ; one fatal, the other free. The fatal being is the toy or instrument of a force which he does not direct. Now, when the instruments of fatality meet and collide, the stronger breaks or c…
1909 · PDF PAGE 389
…re that I was fated to conceal my thoughts for a very long while, I allowed them to advance and attend upon me. In that way began my new life as master of a harem. At first the negroes treated me with a certain reserve, even with hostility; but they soon changed, seeing me so tame and amiable. As the story goes, The King of France and forty thousand men They drew their swords and put them back again. But I now perceive that my narrative will appear almost incoherent if I do not at this point of the history pass over a few incidents and the dail…
1909 · PDF PAGE 389
…re that I was fated to conceal my thoughts for a very long while, I allowed them to advance and attend upon me. In that way began my new life as master of a harem. At first the negroes treated me with a certain reserve, even with hostility; but they soon changed, seeing me so tame and amiable. As the story goes, The King of France and forty thousand men They drew their swords and put them back again. But I now perceive that my narrative will appear almost incoherent if I do not at this point of the history pass over a few incidents and the dail…
1913 · PDF PAGE 485
…syria, of India and of Egypt) is placed at the gate of the garden of truth in order to prevent the pro- fane from destroying the tree of life. Here we have mysterious dogma, with all its allegories and its terrors, replacing the simplicity of truth. The idol has replaced God, and fallen humanity will not delay to give itself up to the worship of the golden calf. The mystery of the necessary and successive reactions of the two principles on each other is indicated subsequently by the allegory of Cain and Abel. Force avenges itself by oppression …
1913 · PDF PAGE 556
…. So revolves the whirlwind of perversity until it arrives at this supreme and secret formula: Emancipation of death by the abolition of life! It is by the victories of toil that one escapes from the fatalities of sorrow. What we call death is but the eternal parturition of Nature. Ceaselessly she re-absorbs and takes again to her breast all that is not born of the spirit. Matter, in itself inert, can only exist by virtue of perpetual motion, and spirit, naturally volatile, can only endure by fixing itself. Emancipation from the laws of fatalit…
1913 · PDF PAGE 563
…f useless to the world and to eternity. Our will, by acting directly upon our plastic medium, that is to say, upon the portion of astral life which is specialized in us, and which serves us for the assimilation and configuration of the elements necessary to our existence; our will, just or unjust, harmonious or perverse, shapes the medium in its own image and gives it beauty in conformity with what attracts us. Thus moral monstrosity produces physical ugliness; for the astral medium, that interior architect of our bodily edifice, modifies it ce…
1913 · PDF PAGE 485
…syria, of India and of Egypt) is placed at the gate of the garden of truth in order to prevent the pro- fane from destroying the tree of life. Here we have mysterious dogma, with all its allegories and its terrors, replacing the simplicity of truth. The idol has replaced God, and fallen humanity will not delay to give itself up to the worship of the golden calf. The mystery of the necessary and successive reactions of the two principles on each other is indicated subsequently by the allegory of Cain and Abel. Force avenges itself by oppression …
1913 · PDF PAGE 556
…. So revolves the whirlwind of perversity until it arrives at this supreme and secret formula: Emancipation of death by the abolition of life! It is by the victories of toil that one escapes from the fatalities of sorrow. What we call death is but the eternal parturition of Nature. Ceaselessly she re-absorbs and takes again to her breast all that is not born of the spirit. Matter, in itself inert, can only exist by virtue of perpetual motion, and spirit, naturally volatile, can only endure by fixing itself. Emancipation from the laws of fatalit…
1913 · PDF PAGE 563
…f useless to the world and to eternity. Our will, by acting directly upon our plastic medium, that is to say, upon the portion of astral life which is specialized in us, and which serves us for the assimilation and configuration of the elements necessary to our existence; our will, just or unjust, harmonious or perverse, shapes the medium in its own image and gives it beauty in conformity with what attracts us. Thus moral monstrosity produces physical ugliness; for the astral medium, that interior architect of our bodily edifice, modifies it ce…
1919 · PDF PAGE 336
… of actual concentra- tion there is no time whatever for anything but the work itself; but to make even the mildest asceticism a rule of life is the gravest of errors, except perhaps that of regarding Asceticism as a virtue. This latter always leads to spiritual pride, and spiritual pride is the principal quality of the brother of the Left-hand Path. ‘Ascetic’ comes from the Greek Askio, to work curiously, to adorn, to exercise, to train. The Latin Ars is derived from this same word. Artist, in its finest sense of creative crafts- man, is there…
1929 · PDF PAGE 219
…had not make mankind. So the next move in the game was that I dispatched Ludovic Cameron as ambassador. It was the supreme moment in his life! I was rather annoyed at being dragged into such crazy controversy and heartily wished to hear no more of the matter, but i had to dree my weird. It was arranged that Rose and I should go to the sheriff and register our marriage, as we risked fine and imprisonment if we omitted to do so. We were then to drive together to a wayside station, where we could take our own decision as to our future proceedings.…
1929 · PDF PAGE 541
541 Of course (in practice) many people, perhaps the majority, will not accept {853} the Law of Thelema. We found that life in the abbey with its absolute freedom was too severe a strain on those who were accustomed to depend on others. The responsibility of being truly themselves was too much for them; but sooner or later, without any action on our part, without any quarrel or ostensible reason, they found themselves ejected into their "previous condition of servitude". The Book of the Law anticipates this: "... the slaves shall serve. ..." Th…
1904 · PDF PAGE 46
…hance of sense or sex To find a way less iron-brained Determining direction x;57 I know not if these Hindu methods Be best (’tis no such life and death odds, Since suffering souls to save or damn Never existed). So I fall Confessing : Well, perhance I am Myself a Christian after all ! So far at least. I must concede Christ did attain in every deed ; Yet, being an illiterate man, Not his to balance or to scan, To call God stupid or unjust ! He took the universe on trust : He reconciled the world below With that above ; rolled eloquence Steel-tir…
1907 · PDF PAGE 193
…lowers she left To Him—O bosom cleft With a wife’s loss !—a wife. RHADAMANTHUS., Too doubtful is the strife. MINOs. Yet go! perchance to life. ZEACUS. Go! and the Gods above Guard thee, O soul of love! RHADAMANTHUS, I doubt me much thereof, ORPHEUS, Ah me! I find ye but ill counsellors. For I will conquer. Have I spent these stores Of will and song for nought? Hell’s heart may rend, But mine endureth even to the end. Severe and righteous Lords, O fare ye well! Are not my feet forced forward on a road Leading to innermost abodes of Hell Exalted …
1907 · PDF PAGE 147
…" writes Lévi , “ ab sorbs and degrades all who come near her ; she who loves , on the other hand , diffuses enthusiasm , nobility , and life .” 1 In her we see a contorted symbol of wifehood , whilst in the latter cases , and especially in " The Fatal 1 The Doctrine of Transcendent Magic , p . 125 .
1907 · PDF PAGE 161
… spawning churches and breeding sects , till unfortunate man found himself so hedged in by the spiritual , that in order to maintain his life in this world he had to acknowledge the Church's supreme authority , and grovel before her in the dust of degradation . Crowley gives a curious example of this growth , and the ulti mate sameness of all religions in that gruesome and weird drama , “ The God - Eater ." Maurya the sister of Criosda says : Criosda , ever the same ! The old world runs On wheels of laughter for us little ones ; To you , whose …
1907 · PDF PAGE 180
… : “ These excretions also serve as a manure to the earth , which brings forth fruits to nourish the body ; thus death reverts always to life , and evil itself serves for the renewal and nourishment of good .” ? The most important of all the arcana of the Magnum opus was the transformation of darkness into light . Again , we have the white and black triangles , the unique Athanor of moral alchemy , the transmutation of i Hermes . ? The Mysteries of Magic , p . 150 .
1910 · PDF PAGE 286
…wn swords of flame— though demon cries peal before him, and unimaginable houris beckon him back—over thorns, through furnaces, but into —Life! To the first restaurant at hand we hastened. Passing in, I called for that only material relief which I have ever found for these spiritual sufferings—something strongly acid. In the East the form in use is sherbet ; mine was very sour lemonade. A glass of it was made ready, and with a small glass tube I drew it up, not being able to bear the shock of a large swallow. Relief came but very slightly—very s…
1910 · PDF PAGE 321
…g to. Thus the peasant-who-had-met-the-lady. He was usually very dull. But the poor fellow had not had any interesting experience in his life, until he met Her. She was walking in the garden, cutting flowers for the table, and, seeing a moujick digging the soil, summoned him. “When thou hast done digging this hole, cut me some flowers,” she said. And he fell to work with all his might, his body seeming 303