Abovetopsecret has, over the past few years, become a handy archive for research into the lives and works of influential people. These men and women have shaped our history in such a powerful way that their effects are talked about even centuries later. If you are looking into, say John Dee, or Benjamin Franklin, a good place to start is right here at ATS.

Aleister Crowley is more recent, but no less interesting. This enigmatic man (1875 to 1947) has the ability, nearly 60 years after his death, to conjure up strong emotions, either radically con or pro. Such varied reactions to him can be viewed through a number of interesting threads in the Secret Societies forum at Abovetopsecret. Just by typing his name into the boolean search feature will bring you a sizeable list:

Boolean Search

From there, I've picked the longest thread...

www.abovetopsecret.com...

and reading it through, found two memorable quotes by board members;

Posted by Masonic Light

Either for good or for ill, Aleister Crowley has had a profound effect on the Western Hermetic Tradition. His voluminous writings have made Magick a household word, and his philosophy of individualism and personal liberty have deeply affected notable intellectuals and artists. Crowley's body of work has been praised by Jim Morrison, John Lennon, Jimmy Page, Sting, David Bowie, Salvador Dali, and many others.

Regardless of his personal shortcomings (which were many), Crowley nevertheless was a breath of fresh air concerning occult scholarship. His wit and sense of humor was albeit bizarre, but often refreshing when compared to more stodgy and uptight occult authors like Levi, Agrippa, Blavatsky, and Waite. For the first time, Crowley made occult philosophy not only enlightening, but entertaining as well.

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Posted by Mayet

Crowley made his students think for themselves in his obtuse way of saying things. He made the student learn and come to the conclusions needed for themselves by themselves, instead of learning by rote which many of the other masters including Regardie left their work.

His occult teachings are available online through this site;

www.hermetic.com...

Within the above link to this library are a great collection of his books and pamphlets. For those interested in studying the writings of this strange man and how he became a legend, the link provided is a treasure trove. Love him or hate him, no-one can say he was boring or uninteresting.

other related links:

www.hermeticgoldendawn.org...

www.simoniff.com...

The Google function is also available on the search page, and will show over 200 pages of ATS links to the name Aleister Crowley. These search engines are your best friend here at ATS...learn to use them and home in on your particular fields of interest. As we grow, the search feature will also grow in importance to you as a 'wise' poster, by giving you the ability to pull out years old threads, dust them off and flinging them back into the light where they belong.

     masqua
     ATS Moderator





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