Thelema ScholarTHE ALEISTER CROWLEY COLLECTION
FOLLOW A WORD THROUGH THE COLLECTION

Search the corpus.

Phrase search ignores case and repeated whitespace. All-words search finds whole words anywhere on the same page. OCR errors can affect results.

4,494 matching pages

Page 94 of 225
1929 · PDF PAGE 143

Moonchild

…lls broke down before the impetuosity of the waves they strove to dam; and the streets of lower Naples stood in water to the height of a man's thigh. The hour for the beginning of the work of the necromancers was that of sunset; and at that moment the rain, after a last burst of vehemence, ceased entirely; nightfall, though black and bitter, was silent as the corpse of Gates itself. In the chapel a portion of the marble floor had been torn up; for it was desired to touch the naked earth with the bare feet, and draw her powers directly up from t…

original embedded textRead original & transcription →
1902 · PDF PAGE 123

Tannhäuser

…tred, love : All self concentred in the sole desire— Hear thou the Voice of Fire ! This hope was Zoroaster's —this is mine ! Not one but many splendours hath the Shrine : Not one but many paths approach the gate That guards the Adytum, fortifying Fate ! Mine was, by weariness of blood and brain, Mere bitter fruit of pain Sought in the darkness of an harlot's bed, To make me as one dead : To loose the girders of the soul, and gain Breathing and life for the Intelligible ; Find death, yet find it living. Deep as Hell I plunged the soul ; by all b…

original embedded textRead original & transcription →
1903 · PDF PAGE 7

Alice: An Adultery

interruption as Mr. Shandy, and from behind the hideous yellow partition came sounds as of the constant babbling of a human voice. Repeated glances in this direction drew from my enter- tainer the information that it was “ only her husband,” indicating the yellow-haired girl with the stem of her short clay pipe. She added that he was dying. Curiosity, Compassion’s Siamese twin, prompted a desire to see the sufferer. The old lady rose, not without difficulty, lifted the curtain, and let it fall behind me as I entered the gloom which lay beyond. …

original embedded textRead original & transcription →
1909 · PDF PAGE 23

The Holy Books

… not, an if thou art ever joyous !—death is the crown of all. 73. Ah! Ah! Death! Death! thou shalt long for death. Death is forbidden, Ο man, unto thee. 74. The length of thy longing shall be the strength of its glory. He that lives long and desires death much is ever the King among the Kings. 75. Aye! listen to the numbers and the words: 76.4638ABK24ALGMOR3 YX24 89RP S TOVAL. What meaneth this, Ο prophet? Thou knowest not; nor shalt thou know ever. There cometh one to follow 22

original embedded textRead original & transcription →
1910 · PDF PAGE 72

The Winged Beetle

…the great grave earth ; Thou has touched the swaying nenuphars With music, and made godly mirth With corn and wine ; Thou hast made Thee man ; Thou hast loved and suffered, died and risen ; But—hath Thy mouth grown white and wan, Sucked out into that strange sweet prison Nay, Thou hast never kissed the mouth Of Dorothy ! as I ! as I ! Thou hast never felt its eager growth Upon my Lesbian ecstasy. Therefore I curse Thee not, accurst Who art in that one flower foregone— And I the last match Thee the first When that red mouth I fasten on.

original embedded textRead original & transcription →
1913 · PDF PAGE 85

The Book of Lies

KE@AAH A CONSTANCY I was discussing oysters with a crony: GOD sent to me the angels DIN and DONI. «A man of spunk,” they urged, ‘‘ would hardly choose To breakfast every day chez Lapérouse.”’ “No!” I replied, ‘She would not do so, BUT Think of his woe if Lapérouse were shut! ‘*T eat these oysters and I drink this wine Solely to drown this misery of mine. ‘*Vet the last height of consolation’s cold: Its pinnacle is—not to be consoled! ‘¢And though I sleep with Jane and Eleanor I feel no better than I did before, ** And Julian only fixes in my mi…

original embedded textRead original & transcription →
1928 · PDF PAGE 131

Little Poems in Prose

…hat passes behind the glass. In this black or shin- ing cavity life lives, life dreams, life suffers. Beyond the waves of roof I see a woman, middle-aged, already wrinkled, poor, always bending over something, who never goes out. With her face, her clothing, her gesture, almost nothing, I have re-constructed the story of this woman;—or rather, her legend. And some- times I tell it to myself, and weep. If it had been a poor old man, I could have reconstructed his history just as easily. And I lie down to sleep, proud of having lived and suffered…

original embedded textRead original & transcription →
1944 · PDF PAGE 243

The Book of Thoth

l Adjustment! Rhythm writhes through every act. Wild is the dance; its balance is exact. m In Mother‐Deeps of Ocean the God­Man Hangs, Lamp of the Abyss Aeonian. n Eagle, and Snake, and Scorpion! The Dance Of Death whirls Life from Trance to Trance to Trance. s Solve, coagula! By V.I.T.R.I.O.L. shewn, The Tincture, the Elixir, and the Stone. y Ιο παν! upon the summits the God‐goat Leaps in wild lust of ecstasy afloat. p Bellona, scream! Unhood the Hawks! The roar Of Universes crashing into War! h Nuit, our Lady of the Stars! Event Is all Thy pl…

original embedded textRead original & transcription →
1904 · PDF PAGE 51

The Sword of Song

…enforced obedience of planetary influence ; and all that we are evil in, by a divine thrusting on ; an admirable evasion of w horemaster man, to lay his goatish disposition to the charge of a star ! My father compounded with my mother under the dragon’s tail, and my nativity was under ursa major ; so that it follows I am rough and lecherous. ’Sfoot ! I should have been that I am had the maidenliest star in the firmament twinkled on my bastardizing.” If there is one sound philosophical dictum in the play, it is this. (I am not going to argue wit…

original embedded textRead original & transcription →
1910 · PDF PAGE 207

The Equinox (Volume I, Number III)

…k on a Sabbath had to do with a free pass to the Celestial regions, unless every act of chastity was computed and performed in a magical manner, each act be- coming as it were a link in one great chain, a formula in one great operation, an operation not leading to Chastity, the symbol, but beyond Chastity to the essence itself—namely the Atman,—Adonai. Further he proved to his own satisfaction that, though absolute Chastity might mean salvation to one man, inducing in the lecherous a speedy concentration, it might be the greatest hindrance to a…

original embedded textRead original & transcription →
1910 · PDF PAGE 207

The Equinox (Volume I, Number IV)

…k on a Sabbath had to do with a free pass to the Celestial regions, unless every act of chastity was computed and performed in a magical manner, each act be- coming as it were a link in one great chain, a formula in one great operation, an operation not leading to Chastity, the symbol, but beyond Chastity to the essence itself—namely the Atman,—Adonai. Further he proved to his own satisfaction that, though absolute Chastity might mean salvation to one man, inducing in the lecherous a speedy concentration, it might be the greatest hindrance to a…

original embedded textRead original & transcription →
1929 · PDF PAGE 340

Confessions of Aleister Crowley

340 I have never been so sorry for any man in my life. I have never met anyone more genuinely noble, generous and kind-hearted. He was the most amusing companion, witty and well read. And all these magnificent qualities were completely marred by a single puerile weakness. Once again I had to admit that the superstition and sexual huperaesthesia, which go in England by the names of religion and love, had emasculated a man. Anglo-Saxonism is psychological phthsis. At the accession of the new sultan, his subjects took the opportunity of enjoying t…

original embedded textRead original & transcription →
1905 · PDF PAGE 56

Collected Works (Vol. I)

…ork on, strong mind, devise The outer life aright ! Iream, subtle soul, and arise To noblest litanies That pierce the mask of night— Ina man work lifts his eyelids, but his dreams lend eyes their light. So dreams and days are wed, And soul and body lie Ambrosial in Love's bed. See, heaven with stars is spread-— So glad of life am I If an angel came to call me I am sure I would not die. A RONDEL. THe wail of the wind in the desolate land Lifts voice where the heaven lies pallid and blind ; Sweeps over the hills from the sea and the sand The wail…

original embedded textRead original & transcription →
1929 · PDF PAGE 43

Magick in Theory and Practice (Section 1)

…olation of the first principles of common sense. 1 A synopsis of the grades of the A.*. A.*, as illustrative of the Magical Hierarchy in Man is given in Appendix 2 “One Star in Sight.” This should be read before proceeding with the chapter. The subject is very difficult. To deal with it in full is entirely beyond the limits of this small treatise. FU RT HE R CONCERNING THE MAGICAL U NIV ERSE Ail these letters of the magical alphabet — referred to above — are like so many names on a map. Man himself is a complété microcosm. Few other beings hâve…

original embedded textRead original & transcription →
1929 · PDF PAGE 126

Moonchild

… his painting were really produced in quite a different way. You do not see why the skull of a parricide should help you to raise a dead man, as you do not see why the mercury in a thermometer should rise and fall, though you elaborately pretend that you do; and you could not raise a dead man by the aid of the skull of a parricide, just as you could not play the violin like Kreisler; though in the latter case you might modestly add that you thought you could learn. This is not the special pleading of a professed magician; it boils down to the a…

original embedded textRead original & transcription →
1899 · PDF PAGE 23

Tale of Archais

…RICLES O fountains of pale sapphire, and clear green, O hills of purple, and ye olive vales, Being music to my wing, and echo seen Of no man being, for now my spirit fails To shrill its clearest notes, and golden gales Of sound, and breezes of delighted sighs. Bring music, hear me chant the world that is, And how Love’s ambush in all nature lies, And I will tell how for one eager kiss My soul is fain to forget Paradise In Archais.

original embedded textRead original & transcription →
1909 · PDF PAGE 40

777

…Jews. ...... Hutamah . Dispersing Ravens 7 Christians . .... Laza.... Deceivers 8 Obscene Ones . . 9 Moslems ..... Jehannam . The Evil Woman or| 10 (simply) The Woman CXXXITI. CXXXI. CXXX. Pairs of Angels ruling Pairs of Angels ruling - Pairs of Angels ruling Coins, Swords. Cups. 0 see ew ew ke le lk 8 ew ew lk lk lw rs Os | -. «Saad mewn » . .boyebe Seman .. . Sey man] 2 mn mynd .. . Seon apn .. .Syme mae] 3 mor Sen md SyvSy .. . Seven mow] 4 . mrp Syn _. . Sys ayn md monn | 5 .. mens dye . Ssepers Spee . . . Sya5y Sy} 6 .. . Symon Seoyp . . S…

original embedded textRead original & transcription →
1909 · PDF PAGE 5

The Soldier and the Hunchback ! and ?

THE SOLDIER AND THE HUNCHBACK: ! AND? “Expect seven misfortunes from the cripple, and forty-two from the one-eyed man; but when the hunchback comes, say ‘Allah our aid.’” ARAB PROVERB. I Inquiry. Let us inquire in the first place: What is Scep- ticism? The word means looking, questioning, investigating. One must pass by contemptuously the Christian liar’s gloss which interprets “ sceptic” as “ mocker” ; though in a sense it is true for him, since to inquire into Christianity is assuredly to mock at it ; but I am concerned to intensify the etymo…

original embedded textRead original & transcription →
1910 · PDF PAGE 139

The World’s Tragedy

…whipped By two tall slaves (a Tartar and a Goth) Till all the flesh was ripped From her olive back — she looked like a dead camel When a man frightens off the kites ; And her rich blood came all afroth To her lips’ vermeil enamel — The lips that I had kissed ! And still she would persist. You see, she had her rights ; For here am I come — a feast I had not missed Willingly, for a thousand beads of jade, Or a broad-hipped Nubian maid, Or a diamond flask of rose-perfume, Or a Shiraz boy in his first best bloom ! Oh, I rewarded her well altogether…

original embedded textRead original & transcription →
1913 · PDF PAGE 202

Cambridge Poets 1900–1913

…es again : Mary looked so prim and plain , He couldn 't really feel afraid To think she 'd watched them as they played . “ I had a young man once . When he ( Said Mary ) came a- courting me , I thought I knew what folk were after With all their tears and looks and laughter . 183

original embedded textRead original & transcription →