Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Aleister Crowley - real deal or just made-up gibberish?

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

    #16
    Re: Aleister Crowley - real deal or just made-up gibberish?

    Originally posted by perzephone View Post
    Huh. I never even thought that much about it. Ceremonial magic, the Golden Dawn, OTO, all of them really don't have any music involved. Weird.

    I know there's a lot of emphasis on properly 'vibrating' the names of the various angels in the Golden Dawn tradition, but I don't know if that came from Crowley or the other people in there. Crowley did practice yoga, so he probably had some familiarity with mantras.
    As far as Crowley goes, I think it has to do with his rebellion against his puritanical Christian upbringing. He basically throws the baby out with the bathwater. As smart as he was... come on. Surely he knew about High Church traditions. He created the Gnostic Mass from a Ukrainian Mass service book, if I remember correctly. He supposedly recited the sura Al-Ikhlas from the Qur'an 1,001 times per day while in Algeria.

    Originally posted by Crowley, Confessions
    As to my study of Islam, I got a sheikh to teach me Arabic and the practices of ablution, prayer and so on, so that at some future time I might pass for a Moslem among themselves. I learnt a number of chapters of the Koran by heart.....

    My sheikh was profoundly versed in the mysticism and magic of Islam, and discovering that I was an initiate, had no hesitation in providing me with books and manuscripts on the Arabic Cabbala. These formed the basis of my comparative studies.
    Seeing as how the Qur'an is a book of poetry that's designed to be chanted by default, he knew this but still didn't include it in his New Aeon. It really pesters me.

    I'm as critical of Christianity and Islam as the next person, but any tradition that can create something like this:

    Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.


    or this



    ...can't be all bad.
    There once was a man who said though,
    It seems that I know that I know,
    What I'd like to see,
    Is the I that knows me,
    When I know that I know that I know.

    Comment


      #17
      Re: Aleister Crowley - real deal or just made-up gibberish?

      Originally posted by GabrielWithoutWings View Post
      Seeing as how the Qur'an is a book of poetry that's designed to be chanted by default, he knew this but still didn't include it in his New Aeon. It really pesters me.
      I didn't even know that about the chanting.

      I veered towards ceremonialism specifically because it didn't seem like it relied too much on creativity, lol. No singing, dancing, ecstatic poetry - it was perfect for me. Less like spirituality and more like following recipes. Or hollering angrily at the spirits.
      The forum member formerly known as perzephone. Or Perze. I've shed a skin.

      Comment


        #18
        Re: Aleister Crowley - real deal or just made-up gibberish?

        Originally posted by perzephone View Post
        I didn't even know that about the chanting.

        I veered towards ceremonialism specifically because it didn't seem like it relied too much on creativity, lol. No singing, dancing, ecstatic poetry - it was perfect for me. Less like spirituality and more like following recipes. Or hollering angrily at the spirits.
        I do know that when the men call to prayer (I've heard it over the city streets once over chat) the spoken words do sound like lyrical content. It's quite beautiful. Even if you had not a clue as to what was being spoken, you could pick up on the vibe of the words.
        Satan is my spirit animal

        Comment


          #19
          Re: Aleister Crowley - real deal or just made-up gibberish?

          For what it is worth, we each create/perceive patterns, and I am not certain that we have any choice but to do so. When a group of people agrees upon a certain system of patterns a religion is born. But at the timeless source all patterns exist and do not. I am not certain what value there is in reification, but Crowley did a pretty good job of it. This makes him neither right nor wrong.

          "No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical." -- Niels Bohr

          Comment


            #20
            Re: Aleister Crowley - real deal or just made-up gibberish?

            How many hymns have been and are sung without any real thought for the words and the indocrination that is taking place? May sound sweet but teaches mindless obedience....'Onward Christian soldiers'.....'God made them high and lowly and order their estate'...etc...etc...we should beware of these tricks...

            Comment


              #21
              Re: Aleister Crowley - real deal or just made-up gibberish?

              Originally posted by truthseeker View Post
              How many hymns have been and are sung without any real thought for the words and the indocrination that is taking place? May sound sweet but teaches mindless obedience....'Onward Christian soldiers'.....'God made them high and lowly and order their estate'...etc...etc...we should beware of these tricks...
              That's one way of looking at it.

              Song, music, chanting, dancing - all of those things fit in well with religion and spirituality because they are all methods of reaching an altered state of consciousness, which puts us closer to the numinous, liminal experiences of becoming one with Deity and Divinity. Hymns and chanting open up the chest and lungs, oxygenate the blood, and increase circulation while at the same time regulate the heart beat and change brainwave patterns. Do it long enough and with enough 'feeling' and you begin to feel euphoric, giddy even. The words themselves don't matter as much as the beat and rhythm, and the sounds/vibrations made by intoning the words. I can get high from singing along to almost any song as long as I don't pay much attention to the sound of my own voice (which is hideous).
              The forum member formerly known as perzephone. Or Perze. I've shed a skin.

              Comment


                #22
                Re: Aleister Crowley - real deal or just made-up gibberish?

                On the chanting/hymn note - Look up the Hurrian hymn sometime. Beautiful for a several thousand year old piece. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ZatnTPhYWc. Need some time to work meditation/chanting better into my schedual myself...

                As for Croweley, a good part of me wants to say "bleck". From what I've read, its as if there was no respect or reverence towards nature or the natural spirits (if you prefer, gods). His determination, however, was a redeeming quality, with his creativity. I won't judge him, but his path is not mine. Best advice, read and determine him for your self.

                Comment


                  #23
                  Re: Aleister Crowley - real deal or just made-up gibberish?

                  Originally posted by perzephone View Post
                  That's one way of looking at it.

                  Song, music, chanting, dancing - all of those things fit in well with religion and spirituality because they are all methods of reaching an altered state of consciousness, which puts us closer to the numinous, liminal experiences of becoming one with Deity and Divinity. Hymns and chanting open up the chest and lungs, oxygenate the blood, and increase circulation while at the same time regulate the heart beat and change brainwave patterns. Do it long enough and with enough 'feeling' and you begin to feel euphoric, giddy even. The words themselves don't matter as much as the beat and rhythm, and the sounds/vibrations made by intoning the words. I can get high from singing along to almost any song as long as I don't pay much attention to the sound of my own voice (which is hideous).
                  Music is magical and as a lover of many different types of music appreciate the effect it can have but we should be aware of what is going on when music is used in a religious rather than spiritual context. We may be enjoying a sing along without really being aware of the words we are singing but our subconscious minds will be picking up the message in the words. There are some beautiful hymns but when you read the words of some of them it is clearly indoctrination and intended to induce belief and membership of a particular faith or group.

                  Comment


                    #24
                    Re: Aleister Crowley - real deal or just made-up gibberish?

                    Crowley was a rare breed- a genius and fool.

                    He was capable, and quite intelligent, of that I have no doubt. But he loved the spotlight, and being the target of other's malice and disgust... Not to say that was a bad thing, per se.

                    Comment


                      #25
                      Re: Aleister Crowley - real deal or just made-up gibberish?

                      Honestly, he's not someone I'd want to meet in a dark alley and I don't agree with all of his beliefs, but I like the way he thought. He did what he wanted, something I wish I had the confidence to do.

                      Comment


                        #26
                        Re: Aleister Crowley - real deal or just made-up gibberish?

                        Basically, everything that she just said. Minus the dark alley part- oh how I would relish the opportunity.

                        Comment


                          #27
                          Re: Aleister Crowley - real deal or just made-up gibberish?

                          Originally posted by JackofPens View Post
                          Honestly, he's not someone I'd want to meet in a dark alley and I don't agree with all of his beliefs, but I like the way he thought. He did what he wanted, something I wish I had the confidence to do.
                          Aleister Crowley wasn't really a thug-in-a-dark-alley kind of person, lol. He was a seedy old English guy. He probably avoided dark alleys himself. XD
                          The forum member formerly known as perzephone. Or Perze. I've shed a skin.

                          Comment


                            #28
                            Re: Aleister Crowley - real deal or just made-up gibberish?

                            Originally posted by perzephone View Post
                            Aleister Crowley wasn't really a thug-in-a-dark-alley kind of person, lol. He was a seedy old English guy. He probably avoided dark alleys himself. XD
                            Unless there was a goat waiting....
                            www.thewolfenhowlepress.com


                            Phantom Turnips never die.... they just get stewed occasionally....

                            Comment


                              #29
                              Re: Aleister Crowley - real deal or just made-up gibberish?

                              Originally posted by Tylluan Penry View Post
                              Unless there was a goat waiting....
                              You know, maybe Dumuzi was Aleister Crowley in a past life...
                              my etsy store
                              My blog


                              "...leave me curled up in my ball,
                              surrounded by plush, downy things,
                              ill prepared, but willing,
                              to descend."

                              Comment


                                #30
                                Re: Aleister Crowley - real deal or just made-up gibberish?

                                Originally posted by Caelia View Post
                                You know, maybe Dumuzi was Aleister Crowley in a past life...


                                Baaaa means no! :xD:
                                The forum member formerly known as perzephone. Or Perze. I've shed a skin.

                                Comment

                                Working...
                                X