Book picks similar to
Aleister Crowley: The Nature of the Beast by Colin Wilson
biography
non-fiction
paranormal
occult
Eight Lectures on Yoga
Aleister Crowley - 1939
His intellectual hallmark—a philosophical synthesis of mysticism, magick and science—is rooted in his Yoga studies in the East at the turn of the last century. These eight lectures, written in 1937, set forth some of Crowley's conclusions after a lifelong philosophical investigation.Speaking in turns as mystic, magus, philosopher, scientist and seasoned adventurer, few sacred cows escape the Mahatma Guru Sri Paramahansa Shivaji, who even delights in poking fun at himself.The first series of lectures is introductory, and is entitled Yoga for Yahoos. The elements of Yoga are introduced, examined and demystified with a view to extracting the practical essence of Yoga doctrine. Yoga is also correlated to astrology and the Qabalah.The second, more advanced series of lectures is entitled Yoga for Yellowbellies. Here Crowley weaves Yoga into a conceptual framework that encompasses Western philosophy, magick and mathematical physics. He introduces relativity and quantum mechanics, and discusses their implications for ontology and consciousness.Crowley's humor suffuses thee talks, which are as entertaining as they are illuminating, and his wit elucidates concepts that elude rational explanation.Revised second edition, introduced and annotated by Hymenaeus Beta, Frater Superior of Ordo Templi Orientis. Includes a new author's portrait and index.
Do What Thou Wilt: A Life of Aleister Crowley
Lawrence Sutin - 2000
But he was also a groundbreaking poet and an iconoclastic visionary whose literary and cultural legacies extend far beyond the limits of his reputation. This controversial individual, a frightening mixture of egomania and self-loathing, has inspired passionate--but seldom fair--assesments by historians. Sutin, by treating Crowley as a cultural phenomenon, and not simply a sorcerer or a charlatan, convinces skeptic readers that the self-styled "Beast" remains a fascinating study in eccentricity.
The Eye in the Triangle: An Interpretation of Aleister Crowley
Israel Regardie - 1970
Dr. Regardie observed "The Great Beast" at close quarters while serving as his personal secretary. The Eye in the Triangle was written many years later, after long contemplation. Regardie combines the psychological insight afforded by his professional training as a Reichian analyst with his grasp of Crowley's magical personality. First-rate!
Aleister Crowley and the Ouija Board
J. Edward Cornelius - 2005
This book provides surprising information on hos the renowned twentieth-century magician Aleister Crowley employed the Ouija Board to great effect, even attempting to create his own version of the device for sale.Like any powerful tool, the Ouija Board requires knowledgeable and proper use. Aleister Crowley and the Ouija Board suggests ways of protecting the magician while using this remarkable spiritual implement.
The Magick of Aleister Crowley: A Handbook of the Rituals of Thelema
Lon Milo DuQuette - 1994
Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album cover. Unfortunately, he was known more for his reputation as "The Beast 666" and "The Wickedest Man in the World." All well and good for publicity, but this infamy eclipsed his teachings, as did his technical and opaque writing style, meant more for adepts contemporary to him than the average modern reader. Enter Lon Milo DuQuette to decipher and explain Crowley's texts and more important rituals. Formerly titled The Magick of Thelema, this revised edition features extensive corrections, a new introduction, and a new ritual, "The Rites of Eleusis." This is the perfect introductory text for readers who wonder what the works--rather than the myth--of Aleister Crowley are all about. DuQuette takes the mystery out of both the rituals themselves and Crowley's writing in this modern grimoire. Step by step, he presents a course of study in plain English, with examples of rituals and explanations of their significance. DuQuette also includes a course of study for Crowley's original works with an extensive bibliography and fastidious footnotes.
Sex and Rockets: The Occult World of Jack Parsons
John Carter - 1999
By day, Parsons’ unorthodox genius created a solid rocket fuel that helped the Allies win World War II. By night, Parsons called himself The Antichrist. “One of the best books of the year.”—The Anomalist
Aleister Crowley - The Biography: Spiritual Revolutionary, Romantic Explorer, Occult Master and Spy
Tobias Churton - 2011
Churton has enjoyed the full co-operation of the world's Crowley scholars to ensure the accuracy and plausibility of his riveting narrative. The author has also been in contact with Crowley's grandson, who has vouchsafed rare, previously untold accounts of family relationships. The result is an intimate portrait that has never before been shown, and one that has great emotional impact.The book contains the first ever complete investigation of Crowley's astonishing family background - including facts he concealed in his lifetime for fear of social prejudice. Tobias Churton also gives us a detailed account of Crowley's work as a British spy during World War I in Berlin during the early 1930s and during World War II. This information has not been available to any previous biographer.
The Weiser Concise Guide to Aleister Crowley
Richard Kaczynski - 2009
A carefully chosen series of his instructions for concentration, meditation, magick, invocation, even sex magick are included. Crowley's descriptions of the teaching Orders A:.A:. and OTO are presented, along with the Creed of EGC. In addition, a suggested reading list of Crowley's "top-eleven" most important books is enhanced by an extensive bibliography for further in-depth research. This is the first and only introductory book that does not pretend to "improve" upon the Master's writings, but attempts to showcase them into a coherent introduction to his spiritual system. .A practicing occultist whose mastery of western magick and eastern mysticism was unsurpassed by any of his contemporaries, and who continues to be an icon for many of today's practicing magicians..The founder and prophet of the new religious movement of Thelema, best known by its oft-misunderstood catchphrase, "Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.".A prolific poet whose Collected Works, by age thirty, filled three volumes, and whose last published work, Olla, was subtitled Sixty Years of Song..A maverick mountaineer whose numerous innovations and world records in the sport are acknowledged by even his most vocal critics..An adventurer whose exploits in the far east were serialized by Vanity Fair magazine as "A Burmese River.".An impresario who took the violin troupe, the Ragged Ragtime Girls, on a tour of Russia..A British secret agent who marshaled his literary and occult connections to the service of his country, including (reputedly) the invention of the "V for Victory" sign as a magical antidote to the swastika..A ranked chess master who could trounce many players without even looking at the chess board..A pioneering entheogenic explorer who conducted psychedelic experiments with mescaline..Producer and star of The Rites of Eleusis, a series of ritualistic plays featuring an innovative blend of magick, drama, music and poetry. .One of the most unjustly vilified men in the history of journalism, garnering headlines like "The Wickedest Man in the World" and "A Man We'd Like To Hang."More mistruth and rumor has circulated about Aleister Crowley than perhaps any other figure in recent history. When the reporter Henry Hall introduced him to readers of the New York World Sunday Magazine, he wrote, "Some said that he was a man of real attainments, others that he was a faker. All agreed that he was extraordinary." Crowley openly defied social conventions, challenging people to examine what they really believed, and why they believed it. He confronted blind faith with rational skepticism. Yet he likewise challenged the skeptic with scientific illuminism, a systematic approach to spirituality that he described as "The method of science, the aim of religion."
A Magick Life: A Biography of Aleister Crowley
Martin Booth - 2000
A MAGICK LIFE is a detailed and extensively researched biography, a uniquely unbiased study of one of the thentieth century's most charismatic, misinterpreted and controversial figures, a brilliant polymath whose considerable intellect and talent were crushed by his self-destructiveness.
Goetia the Lesser Key of Solomon the King: Lemegeton, Book 1 Clavicula Salomonis Regis
S.L. MacGregor Mathers
Includes Crowley's "An Initiated Interpretation of Ceremonial Magic," his version of "The Bornless Ritual," Enochian translations of some of the Goetic invocations, an introduction, and notes. Illustrated. Smythe-sewn and printed on acid-free paper.
Real Magic: An Introductory Treatise on the Basic Principles of Yellow Light
Isaac Bonewits - 1971
Examines every category of occult phenomena from ESP to Eastern ritual and explores the basic laws of magic, relating them to the natural laws of the universe.
Strange Angel: The Otherworldly Life of Rocket Scientist John Whiteside Parsons
George Pendle - 2005
ROCKET SCIENTIST KILLED IN PASADENA EXPLOSIONscreamed the headline of the Los Angeles Times. John Parsons, a maverick rocketeer who helped transform the rocket from a derided sci-fi plot line into a reality, was at first mourned as a scientific prodigy. But reporters soon uncovered a more shocking story: Parsons had been a devotee of black magic. George Pendle re-creates the world of John Parsons in this dazzling portrait of prewar superstition, cold war paranoia, and futuristic possibility. Fueled by childhood dreams of space flight, Parsons was a leader of the motley band of enthusiastic young men who founded the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a cornerstone of the American space program. But Parsons's wild imagination also led him into the occult- for if he could make rocketry a reality, why not magic? With a cast of characters including Howard Hughes, L. Ron Hubbard, and Robert Heinlein, Strange Angel explores the unruly consequences of genius.
The Serpent and the Rainbow
Wade Davis - 1985
Drawn into a netherworld of rituals and celebrations, Davis penetrated the vodoun mystique deeply enough to place zombification in its proper context within vodoun culture. In the course of his investigation, Davis came to realize that the story of vodoun is the history of Haiti—from the African origins of its people to the successful Haitian independence movement, down to the present day, where vodoun culture is, in effect, the government of Haiti’s countryside. The Serpent and the Rainbow combines anthropological investigation with a remarkable personal adventure to illuminate and finally explain a phenomenon that has long fascinated Americans.
The Great Beast : The Life And Magick Of Aleister Crowley
John Symonds - 1951
Cults That Kill: Probing the Underworld of Occult Crime
Larry Kahaner - 1988
The author had unparalleled cooperation of police investigators and practitioners alike to present this heavily researched, informational account.