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Originally Posted by nomadicfollower
Anyone here with any interest in the occult? Maybe not necessarily in practice, but just as a random interest..
I've been meaning to read more into it. I've been meaning to read some Aleister Crowley, but I've been lead to believe that his works aren't for beginners. And I'm not even sure I want to get into that much detail. I'm really just curious for a (not-so) brief overview. Something with historical and practitional refrences.
So where to start? Crowley? Should I even bother?
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Aleister Crowley is fascinating for many reasons; occultist, 'beast', joker, pioneering mountain climber, chess master, ahead-of-his-time publicist, great patriot (or traitor, you decide!), dresser-up, poet and so much more.
A good introduction to some occult practises can be obtained by reading Aleister Crowley's novel
Moonchild and his long prose poem
Aha. There's also some short stories, but they are near-impossiblo to obtain.
Aleister Crowley's works can at times be indecipherable to the non-expert, but at many points in his autobiography (or 'hagiography', as he insisted) or in the 'Magical Record of the Beast 666' diaries, he shows himself to be intelligent and insightful.
It's worth browsing Crowley's works, though, as it's not all inpenetrable technicalities, and you can read many of them at Sacred Texts. Here's the link to the Thelemite texts, many of which were written by Crowley:
http://www.sacred-texts.com/oto/index.htm
Here's the direct link to a personal favourite, Crowley's
The Book of Lies.
There's a very good recent biography of Crowley by Martin Booth called
Aleister Crowley; A MAgic Life. If I said it were an honest work, but leaning towards a sympathetic disposoiton, that would sum it up quite well. Also, if you're the kind of chap who like to peruse the second-hand bookmarket, then Sandy Robertsons
The ALeister Crowley Scrapbook is a decent thing to pick up; it goes through most aspects of his life, including his effect on popular culture, and contains soe genuine rarities.
A tip would be not to try holding out for first editions: in the early days Crowley spent much of his fortune (from his strict CHristian family's brewing business) on lavish self-publication of his titles. They are very expensive nowadays.