Magick in Theory and Practice

NO but thank you for bringing it up sounds interesting... ! Going to try and find a place to read that

 

I have a copy of the book. Its widely considered one of the best "beginner's" books on the subject but I always thought his language to be a little too advanced for that. I admit, though, that I haven't read the whole thing because I'm always reading multiple books and tend to get sidetracked.

 

I've read it two or three times. His magickal system is built off of Hermeticism, which is built off of the religious philosophy I was born into called Kabbalah (which is commonly called mystical Judaism).

If you can get a hold of materials from the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, I would start there. It's much more accessible, and Crowley was associated with the Golden Dawn.

Many people have a gross misunderstanding of what magick really is.

 

Why is this type of stuff associated of satanism if its originally Jewish?

 

Kabbalah arose in the Medieval period, during the height of Christian persecution of Jews and Muslims. Anything not Christian was deemed Satanic.

Unfortunately, that view still remains, although there is something called the Christian Kabbalah (generally spelled Cabalah) which is just Kabbalah interpreted through a Christian framework.

 

It makes no sense, though. Hitler was acquainted with the Thule Society, which was basically just the German form of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, which means he was subscribing to a philosophy that grew out of the Medieval Jewish philosophical movement.

Almost all of the early Golden Dawn works employ the usage of Hebrew script in magick working, and the Kabbalistic Tree of Life plays a central role in Hermetic thought. Even today, the Golden Dawn uses the Hebrew names for the sephirot ("spheres," attributes of God) on their representations of the Tree of Life. It was, and still is, that interconnected with Jewish mysticism.

He was steeped in Jewish mystical thought, yet he hated the Jews. He was certainly a conflicted character.

 

Though, certainly, Kabbalah doesn't have to be utilized strictly from the Jewish mystic perspective. As it is a meta-system, with the right correspondences it can be adjusted to fit certain currents just as well. After all, Kabbalah is the foundation of virtually all Western esoteric systems and thought.

 

Nechesh gave a great answer. While Crowley's form of magick (and the entire western occult tradition) grew out of Kabbalah, and still shares many similarities, it has diverged and become something beyond Jewish mysticism.

Crowley was just a dark individual, and that is reflected very well in his writings. I certainly don't think he was evil, though. I think he just had a different thought-system for framing magickal theory and practice than most occultists of his time.

 

I remember him suggesting that one eat their own semen if they can't stop masturbating.

Quite the colorful character.

 

Definitely some weird stuff haha.

Then again, one of the scriptures of Hasidic Judaism, called The Tanya, outlines the methods of purification needed after a man has a wet dream. Personally I don't see why God would hold me responsible for something that happens in a dream, but most Jews don't agree with that

 

Every time I hear or read about any of this stuff it just gets way too ridiculous too fast.

I mean cmon... Satanism? Why? Why Satan, of all mythical characters known through history. I just don't see the point. If you're gonna take Satan, the supposed source of all evil in the universe, and make him out to actually be a pretty cool guy, well then now it's something else entirely and you might as well call him Johnnie Darko.

 

The only thing I know about Aleister Crowley is Jimmy Page's intrest in him

 

What are you talking about? None of this necessarily has anything to do wth Satanism.

 

You had me until, "which is a clear reference to the law of satanism... please.