October Nightmares IV #29: Magick (1913) by Aleister Crowley - The Wickedest Man in the World

I'm no fan of religions; if religion is represented by Jesus, then I'm Longinus delivering the cruel blow with my throbbing spear as it languishes on the cross. The occult, however, is an entirely different story. It's a bit more wild west than organised religions, which attempt to explain the world through highly sanitised parables.

Occultism is more like: take the skin of a West Country sheep, spunk on it, mix in the blood of a baby, and stand on one foot for three weeks, and maybe a demon will deign to appear to you before completely ruining your life.

Aleister Crowley is one of the most famous occultists. The so-called wickedest man in the world, Crowley founded the new aged pseudo-religion of Thelema, as well as writing countless treatises and texts on occultism, ceremonial magic, religion, and counterculture. Today I'm going to examine one of his texts - Magick, which is Crowley's treatise on Will, ritual magic, and "the Science and Art of causing Change to occur in conformity with Will". It has often been described as his magnum opus.

Magick - or to give its full name, in accordance with Crowley's own ordering, Magick, Liber ABA, Book 4 - is not a horror book. What it is, is an incredibly dry book on concepts central to Crowley's belief system. But considering Crowley claims that a sinister entity known as Abuldiz commanded that he write the book, during a ritual, there's a certain creepiness to the whole affair. There was also a weird Turk present who had crocodile skin hands. That story is no more believable than an invisible sky monstrosity demanding its servants (us) create The Bible to spread its message: but at least Crowley doesn't pretend we're all sat around a fire singing kumbaya.

Crowley's purpose here is to explain Magick, which is a key aspect of Thelema. The book itself is split into four parts, each of which explains a specific aspect of Magick. Essentially, it's using the natural forces around us for change. This is an important part of Thelema, which Crowley founded after his spiritual experiences when he toured the East. Do you know those idiot millennial backpackers you get, who travel the world and stay with poor people who hate them, and go on about how 'spiritual' everything is? It's like that.

I believe you can buy as separate books (in cheap, no thrills editions). For example, the first copy of Magick I bought was literally only the second part of the book, published by Kismet Publishing under the title of Magick. That's the problem when an author's work enters the public domain: the vultures descend.

Before I go any further, I must advise you not to read Magick if you're only after cool tidbits of occultism to impress your goth girlfriend. Like how to summon a demon with only used tampons. It's not that sort of book.

The contents of Magick are as follows:

• Part One (Mysticism) deals with the mysticism side of things; meditation, religion, yoga, etc. It's his own system of yoga described here, but he borrows heavily from existing systems. Self-actualisation may be a better way of putting it. As Crowley writes here:"Meditation: The way of attainment of genius or Godhead considered as a development of the human brain." I think we've found the archetypal Rick and Morty fan.
• Part Two (Magick - Elemental Theory) describes the fundamental objects used in ceremonial magick. Everything from the temple itself, to the magic circle, to the dagger, to the robe, and the ceremonial book. It's a fascinating section of the book, as it describes what each component represents, does, and its significance and you feel as though you're being let in on a terrible secret.
• Part Three (Magick - In Theory and Practice) concerns the headier concepts of Crowley's system. Most famously, this section includes an introduction which attempts to describe Magick, including the statement "Magick is the method of science and the aim of religion". This part of the book throws a lot of words and concepts around, concerning rituals and forms of magick. It's like one of the boring theory lessons in Harry Potter.
• Part Four (ΘΕΛΗΜΑ—the Law), or Thelema - the Law, really concerns another book of Crowley's The Book of the Law. The law in question, is Crowley's religion of Thelema; though there is certainly much to be discussed about Thelema, Crowley said it best himself when he claimed "Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law". This part of the book explores The Book of the Law, its ideas, its conception, and throws in nuggets about Crowley himself.

That's Magick in summary. I don't profess to be any kind of Crowley, Magick, or Thelema expert. In fact, I only read this book one hazy summer when I was seeking inspiration for my writing. It didn't help. But it seems to me that Magick can best be described as an 'occultist's self-help book', and upon examining the figure who wrote it, would you really want his advice? 

Crowley was engaged in just about every deviant act going. He did what he wanted, when he wanted - and was wealthy enough (from his parents' money) to weather the public outrage. Isn't that just like most toffs, only without the pretence? Also, he could only be a man of exotic pleasures and a hedonist of Frank Cotton's level because of said money. What's the poor man to do: shag a flannel from Aldi? Crowley's desire to expose his divine right to shag everything that moved, was probably only shocking because it looked like a hybrid between Uncle Fester and Lord Varys from Game of Thrones.

There's something edgy about Crowley, and not necessarily in a good way. In Part Two, Chapter VI (The Wand) Crowley argues: "The majority of the people in this world are ataxic...they cannot coordinate their mental muscles to make a purposed movement." Crowley pulls this superiority act constantly throughout the book. If he were alive today, he'd be an anti-vaxer condemning the sheeple. Elsewhere in the book he writes, "A male child of perfect innocence and high intelligence is the most satisfactory victim",  and that he sacrificed hundreds a year, which caused many to think he was into human sacrifice. It was actually a sublime wanking joke.

However, I included Magick on this list because it is one the most intricate workings of the occult. Whether you respect Crowley's ideas or not, he was certainly a man who lived and fully thought out his ideas. And that lends a certain prestige to his workings. He inspired movements which still exist 70 years after his death. Detailed here are exact concepts and instructions, and you occasional gain the fanciful notion that perhaps there could be something to the whole thing. There is rarely a "god's will" moment here - everything is quantified and explained.

Magick, for example, assumes you are already a student of Thelemic Magick. It does not make for light reading and gets heavy-handed and detailed almost immediately. But then I wouldn't expect anything less from a system which purports to make its adherents 'spiritually superior'. I suppose the real horror here, is that the Crowley's followers are the precursor to the average Youtube comments section troll.

When he's not full of himself, Crowley can be insightful. In Part One, Chapter VII (Samadhi), he comes out with this line, which whilst specific in context, is the sort of introspection you never see in religion: "Even if what he said were true he should not have mentioned it; because it does not sound true, and we should make no statement that is à priori improbable without being prepared to back it up with the fullest proofs."

And though Crowley evokes images of devils and spirits when describing various rituals, it's the real-life organisations he refers to which provide the scariest images. Organisations such as A∴A∴, which formed from the remnants of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, and the O.T.O, sound all secretive and scary. Like some sinister force behind the veil of civilised society. They have occult-looking seals and vaguely threatening self-described missions such as "the advancement of humanity by perfection of the individual on every plane through a graded series of universal initiations". Fortunately, they're probably harmless: the mere result of D&D nerds out on the piss.

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