Did you see that title? So I know you’re thinking who reads
shit like this? Obviously I do, and here’s why: I love history for what it can
hide, and I love the occult for what it reveals. Both are rather informative
creations. And in my estimation Aleister Crowley was a hell of an interesting
man. Why not bring them together in a book? The answer? Why not? Good fun.
Who is Aleister Crowley? Only the “wickedest man in the
world” according to the British press at the time. So “wicked” mind you, that
he managed to create a living and well documented religion that thrives on
multiple continents today. It’s called Thelema (Greek derivative of “Will”) and
with every passing generation it grows more vivid and relevant. Also it’s
pretty much a sex cult/Quabalistic psychotherapy with awesome rituals.
Arguably, Thelema is
a mystery religion, with a dark magical tradition that’s steeped in Satanism
and other stupid superstitions. It can’t rationally be taken any more seriously
than Scientology, Mormonism, or any other paradigm agreed upon, practiced, and
thus called a religion. The difference between the ones above referenced and
the more traditional faiths is simply documentation. We have historical proof
about the lives of the men that created the aforementioned “faiths.” Therefore
it doesn’t take an apostate spirit to study the recent history of the beliefs
mentioned above, where it kind of does take one to openly shit on Catholicism,
and basically every other religion that predated the 1850’s.
To be fair, religious and spiritual belief cannot be
rational by definition, and therefore incidentally I admit that I have no right
(with a rational mind) to even venture to call them paradigms, jokes, or
fictions (much less bullshit).
I will reveal before going any further that I have
questioned exhaustively my own religious upbringing, and have sought to gain
some truth that was compatible with real life and other people. It remains to
be seen however, if there is virtue in such a pursuit. Zen helps, but there
seems to be no easy answers for the human that shrugs off determinism,
irrationality, mysticism, or tradition. Regardless, my soul (in the poetic
sense) still endures the many lonely nights afforded it. So I don’t take
lightly any conclusions regarding the Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life,
the Universe, and Everything . . . unless they are ultimate conclusions. (42).
So that’s why I have a soft-spot for everything Crowley and of course his
strange egregore named Thelema. He actually taught (very similar to the Buddha)
his followers to work out with experiment their own “salvation.”
Do What Thou Wilt is
the Whole of the Law. Love is the Law. Love under Will.
You might see this on Jay-Z’s sweatshirt or on some
proto-punk appropriation, but the saying is not Luciferian in that it doesn’t
inherently point to the devil. Or for that matter does it encourage selfishness
or doing things that hurt other people. It happens to be the most sacred truth
in Thelema and is often uttered in greeting or at the beginning and end of
correspondence among members of the group. It is a practical declaration, and a
magick spell. Its origins are in satire, via Rabelais (who originally coined
the phrase in Gargantua and Pantagruel).
Describing those who occupy the Abbey of Thelema he wrote:
In all their rule and strictest tie
of their order there was but this one clause to be observed,
Do What Thou Wilt;
because men that are free, well-born,
well-bred, and conversant in honest companies, have naturally an instinct and
spur that prompted them unto virtuous actions, and withdraws them from vice,
which is called honor. Those same men, when by base subjection and constraint
they are brought under and kept down, turn aside from that noble disposition by
which they formerly were inclined to virtue, to shake off and break that bond
of servitude wherein they are so tyrannously enslaved; for it is agreeable with
the nature of man to long after things forbidden and to desire what is denied
us.
Basically people act right when they openly share the
determination to be individuals and defend it in a community. If this right is
denied they pursue taboo.
So who cares? Well only the fringe, but for those of you who
are curious, Crowley’s was a revival in Socratic spiritual pragmatism that can
be useful in the modern age. He seemed to understood the power of belief in a
profound way. He knew from experience that blindly believing anything, was not
only dangerous, but also parasitic. He concluded that all great beliefs (if
blindly accepted) were inherently evil. This was in his opinion due to the fact
that mass belief provides opportunity for denial of freedoms for average men, by
those in power. Therefore in order to see truth for oneself there must be
active taboo against the restrictions of mass belief. Who better to defeat the
Nazis than someone using taboo as a powerful tool to transgress, disarm, and prod
the discovery for oneself of one’s True Will? The Master Omega Therion himself
(one of his many self-given names … he had many … think Wu Tang).
Moreover, it is ultimately a sacred duty to do so, and the
duty of your fellow men (also sacred). This method was scientific and tolerant.
To empower oneself to realize True Will, was in the same motion to empower your
fellow men to do the same (in real time).
Nothing is true, everything is permitted. Also there was lots of sex.
So why the Secret Agent angle though? Isn’t it enough that
this guy created a religion? Why make up a crazy story about being a spy? There
are two theories:
a)
First if it’s not true, it helps soften the
terrible reputation betrothed to Mr. Crowley via the British press and the
British government during the war years. Look this up. They talked mad shit and
made him into a pariah openly (almost without cause). And he did almost nothing
to defend himself even though most of the allegations were bogus.
b)
Secondly, if it’s actually true, it means that
Aleister was not only a genius, but a sort of unsung hero in the struggle for
liberation and libertarianism. (Not American political libertarianism, but
socio-ethical libertarianism in the sense of an abiding social contract vs.
Fascism or Feudalism). The cause of the slander was for disinformation. Which
means, by letting the British establishment distance themselves from him, he
was actively taking one for the team (as it were) in order to fulfill a True
Will that acted as a catalyst for Victory (look up Crowley and the V sign).
In the book we find out that there is more evidence than not
for the second theory. If true, this would mean that an even greater dimension
of character (and chaos) dictated the activity and conscious controversy
stirred by the Great Beast Crowley. I see this as evidence that following one’s
True Will can often be unpopular, painful, and even dangerous.
So was he a spy for the British during both World Wars? Some
reasons to believe it’s true:
a)
The MI6 branch of British intelligence to this
day refuses to release thousands of pages of classified documents pertaining to
the activities of Mr. Crowley during both World Wars. And this is the exception
as a generous portion of documents from that era are readily available in the
public domain.
b)
Correspondence has been released proving that
not only was Crowley actively communicating with MI6, CIA, and war departments,
but that he had a clearance.
c)
Evidence also exists for indirect funding for
his activities in the United States during and after the wars by government
entities.
So what does that leave us with? A damn good yarn and a damn
good example of how great ideas and even greater geniuses also struggle with
amoral conundrum. Crowley was after all a supreme asshole from time to time,
but also considered a messiah to those in his tradition. I guess the trick is
to make sure that it’s your True Will, and not some silly bullshit. That is the
whole of the Law.
Oh yeah and also he was friends with Ian Fleming (real life
James Bond and author of the books) and was most likely the inspiration for
such great villains as Sherlock Holmes nemesis Dr. Moriarty. He also warned his
friends to look out for a devious confidence artist named L. Ron Hubbard. His
story is undoubtedly weirder than fiction.
This book gets a fringy Fresh … read at your own risk.
Matt Cowart
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