Is Aleister Crowley an Evil Man?

similia said:

I'm not suggesting Crowley was any kind of saint. He was frequently a right ******** and there are many things about him I find repugnant. There are a great many people who would have been better off not ever having met him. Then again, there are a great many who are better off for the work he left behind. He left copious records of his thoughts and deeds, and you can pick any few examples and make whatever argument you please from it.

Read it for yourself Ranzel, and read it in detail. Then decide for yourself. If the Thoth's not for you, then no one thinks any less of you. (Send it to me, I've always room for a spare ) Frankly there are decks I find discomforting and would not use. But do find out for yourself first.

I think the deck is much like the man. Complicated and interesting to study, but not something I'd want to sleep with

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Well said Similia.....

Crowley and his deck are not for everyone. I started with Crowley early on .... I sweated, I strained, wrestled, I chewed over his teachings & deck .... on my own, this was pre Internet & the many fine tomes that have been written since on Crowley, his times, antics & deck -- i clarified my Magickal thinking & my beliefs about Crowley in the process.

I grew in the process....

Mac22

Lillie said:

And after the tea and biscuits he would seduce the vicars wife, except for the third Wednesday of every month when he would seduce the vicar instead, just for variety.

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He took tea at 3? That really is a nasty habit.

and sometimes if he was feeling really naughty he would have coffee

crystal dawn said:

He took tea at 3? That really is a nasty habit.

and sometimes if he was feeling really naughty he would have coffee

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Whilst dressed as the vicars wife of course (lol)

crystal dawn said:

Whilst dressed as the vicars wife of course (lol)

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And injecting the vicar's cat with heroin while fondling it in most shocking ways.

But seriously, he did have a problematic life, his defenders aside.

If someone out there has a magical teacher, guru or 'creator' of your tarot deck who has no faults ... I'd like to know who they are. I once read that Tycho Brae kept a dwarf in a dungeon for 'sport whipping', didnt detract from his damn good astronomical observations and resultant cosmological theory though.

I know a guy who hates Crowley, thinks he is evil and highly sussed about me (on a path of darkness and all that), yet this guy thinks Sai Barba is God and he freeley admits the crimes Sai Baba commited happened as they were reported by his closest followers, BUT God has infinite wisdom, so these acts will actually appear good ... in the long run (eg. tantric enlighment) ... after all, who can argue with or judge God?

The biggest arse thing Crowley did, IMO, was to go off popping rare birdlife with a rifle from a canoe ... but then, so did most Victorian big game hunters.

My cousin flushed their pet cat down the loo once ... well, tried too. That was cruel ... he sort of grew up OK though. My other cousin brained me with a mantle piece antique clock once ... later we were best of friends. Boys will be boys.

But then again ... there is the unspeakable evil ...



































best not speak about that !

ravenest said:

The biggest arse thing Crowley did, IMO, was to go off popping rare birdlife with a rifle from a canoe ... but then, so did most Victorian big game hunters.

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Oh dear I forgot about that, when considering how kind, considerate and loving he was to his acquaintances. It is a pity they were not on the endangered list- or perhaps they were in fact?
Now lets have that new-agey spiel how his friends let these things happen, and blame the victims for their predicament in having Crowley as a friend.

Evil? Moi?

Well said ravenest. I really don't know what kind of coloured cotton-candy guru some folks want.

I was sadly discouraged from reading Crowley for many years. I am now trying to catch up. I am currently reading "Magick Without Tears". IMO it is a book that everyone with any interest in the occult should have. It is a terrible generalisation, but I think that seekers are beyond good and evil. I hope that doesn't sound too "new agey" for you. What do you think drives a seeker?

I shall take my vision of AC exactly as it is. We can only enlighten ourselves.

Moi? Discourage anyone from reading a book? You know me not! I also belong to the Guru seekers club- Last God we had was Charlton Heston- but he up and went and died-so we were mistaken about his Godship. I was not aware that Candy floss was a requirement, when considering an Occult writer....so let me think... ummmmm ...someone beyond good and evil like me ....ah yes Gerald B Gardener. Yes well, his sadomasochism does not affect me at all when considering his writings as he was a seeker too- beyond all that twaddle of good and evil.
Rosanne

Didn't Crowley write all Gardeners rituals for him?

Maybe they gimped for each other too.

He wasn't a patch on Voldemort.....

And ranzel - there is a button at the top of each page labelled search - and it will even access an "advanced search" link. You might find it useful. Almost everything like this is here somewhere.

Except Voldemort....