Abrac
Hi Aldaren. To address two of your points...
1. This raises some interesting questions. Why would a "great occultist and magician" behave in some of the ways Crowley did, the Abramelin Working for example? I think it depends on how you define "great occultist and magician." Crowley didn't follow tradition by any means, but he understood some fundamental principles of magic (whether consciously or subconsciously I don't know). The "Command to Look" for example. Anyone wanting to acquire power has to be able to attract attention, whether positive or negative. The more attention they can get, the more their persona is infused with energy. Actual ability isn't always necessary, the power of a person's persona can make it appear they are capable of many things they may or may not be capable of in reality. The more energy acquired, the more solid and larger-than-life the person seems. He also seemed to have an understanding of another magical principle necessary for success, that of 99 parts acceptability to 1 part outrage. But he went a little overboard on the "outrage" side in my opinion. If he had dialed it back a bit he may have had a lot more success outside his own peer group.
2. It's hard to say how much of his "badness" was real and how much was calculated for effect. I don't think there's any question a lot of it was calculated. We all have the potential to do some pretty bad things, but some people try to keep it in check while others, not so much. I think somewhere along the line Crowley figured out that being "bad" could get him attention and he let the brakes off. After a point, bad behavior left unchecked stops being voluntary and tends to take over. I think this may be true in Crowley's case, particularly his drug abuse.
1. This raises some interesting questions. Why would a "great occultist and magician" behave in some of the ways Crowley did, the Abramelin Working for example? I think it depends on how you define "great occultist and magician." Crowley didn't follow tradition by any means, but he understood some fundamental principles of magic (whether consciously or subconsciously I don't know). The "Command to Look" for example. Anyone wanting to acquire power has to be able to attract attention, whether positive or negative. The more attention they can get, the more their persona is infused with energy. Actual ability isn't always necessary, the power of a person's persona can make it appear they are capable of many things they may or may not be capable of in reality. The more energy acquired, the more solid and larger-than-life the person seems. He also seemed to have an understanding of another magical principle necessary for success, that of 99 parts acceptability to 1 part outrage. But he went a little overboard on the "outrage" side in my opinion. If he had dialed it back a bit he may have had a lot more success outside his own peer group.
2. It's hard to say how much of his "badness" was real and how much was calculated for effect. I don't think there's any question a lot of it was calculated. We all have the potential to do some pretty bad things, but some people try to keep it in check while others, not so much. I think somewhere along the line Crowley figured out that being "bad" could get him attention and he let the brakes off. After a point, bad behavior left unchecked stops being voluntary and tends to take over. I think this may be true in Crowley's case, particularly his drug abuse.
) Very good for referrence.
