Le Fanu
I just finished reading Lawrence Sutin's Life of Aleister Crowley on the beach this afternoon. I have had it on my bookshelf for a while and then subsequently got Perdurabo, which by all acounts is the best biography. I shall start reading that shortly, but I just wanted to post impressions here. I felt I should read Sutin first as it is the "other" good Crowley biography.
Reading a biography of Crowley is giving me fascinating insights into the Thoth deck in a way I hadn't really expected. So much that the Thoth books don't talk about which I - as a detective- pick up on and feel is relevant to what ultmately gave birth to the deck and I make a note of it in my notebook. The duality in the Thoth; this ongoing thing of mixing and alchemy in sex magic. In fact, the sheer fierceness of his sexuality throughout his life and how this just HAS to be omnipresent in the Thoth deck and yet nobody talks about it that explicitly, his thing with alchemy, sex magic, blood and semen as the life force. The strengthening and weakening of the suits, and the ebb and flow of his cravings. Of course, The Thoth deck signifies a kind of closure of his life's work, a conclusion perhaps, and what makes it special is that it is one of the few works of his that doesn't go on and on and on about Thelema. As Sutin says, it is more a mixing pot of Eastern and Western and Ancient Spiritualities with Thelema as referred to. And sex. Plus it is interesting to come across the creation of the Thoth in the wider context of his life and where he was with his thinking. It is also interesting how his relationship with Lady Frieda is perhaps one of the deepest of his female platonic relationship he ever had and yet he works his voracious sexuality into the deck and she acts as a kind of prism and she had to be - I suppose - someone he wasn't crowning as another Scarlet Woman for the partnership to "work".
As a result ,the deck is all the lust and passion of Crowley without the pontificating!
I am also struck by how much astrology there is in the Thoth deck and yet how rarely Sutin mentions Crowley and astrology. His actual life as he lived it seems more relevant than the astrology.
I get what others have said about there being this hole at the centre of the book; the spiritual aspect of Crowley's life seems so flat. I feel I have a sense of the course of his life but I know nothing more about his spiritual quest after reading this book. I have a biographical framework. Interesting nonetheless.
An enjoyable read though. I'm now looking foward to reading Perdurabo. It really is fantastic to read the biography and go back to the deck in that light. Any other thoughts on your Crowley biography readings?
Reading a biography of Crowley is giving me fascinating insights into the Thoth deck in a way I hadn't really expected. So much that the Thoth books don't talk about which I - as a detective- pick up on and feel is relevant to what ultmately gave birth to the deck and I make a note of it in my notebook. The duality in the Thoth; this ongoing thing of mixing and alchemy in sex magic. In fact, the sheer fierceness of his sexuality throughout his life and how this just HAS to be omnipresent in the Thoth deck and yet nobody talks about it that explicitly, his thing with alchemy, sex magic, blood and semen as the life force. The strengthening and weakening of the suits, and the ebb and flow of his cravings. Of course, The Thoth deck signifies a kind of closure of his life's work, a conclusion perhaps, and what makes it special is that it is one of the few works of his that doesn't go on and on and on about Thelema. As Sutin says, it is more a mixing pot of Eastern and Western and Ancient Spiritualities with Thelema as referred to. And sex. Plus it is interesting to come across the creation of the Thoth in the wider context of his life and where he was with his thinking. It is also interesting how his relationship with Lady Frieda is perhaps one of the deepest of his female platonic relationship he ever had and yet he works his voracious sexuality into the deck and she acts as a kind of prism and she had to be - I suppose - someone he wasn't crowning as another Scarlet Woman for the partnership to "work".
As a result ,the deck is all the lust and passion of Crowley without the pontificating!
I am also struck by how much astrology there is in the Thoth deck and yet how rarely Sutin mentions Crowley and astrology. His actual life as he lived it seems more relevant than the astrology.
I get what others have said about there being this hole at the centre of the book; the spiritual aspect of Crowley's life seems so flat. I feel I have a sense of the course of his life but I know nothing more about his spiritual quest after reading this book. I have a biographical framework. Interesting nonetheless.
An enjoyable read though. I'm now looking foward to reading Perdurabo. It really is fantastic to read the biography and go back to the deck in that light. Any other thoughts on your Crowley biography readings?