The Magick of Aleister Crowley: A Handbook of the Rituals of Thelema

259 Pages·2003·2.49 MB·English

by  Lon Milo DuQuette

The Tree of Life. (Source: Crowley: Magick Without Tears, 777 Revised, and
The Book of Thoth; reproduced by Hymenaeus Beta, copyright © 1993 O.T.O.)
The Magick of
Aleister Crowley
A Handbook of the Rituals of Thelema
Lon Milo DuQuette
This edition first published in 2003 by
Red Wheel/Weiser, LLC
With offices at:
665 Third Street, Suite 400
San Francisco, CA 94107
www.redwheelweiser.com
Copyright © 1993, 2003 Lon Milo DuQuette
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any
means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and
retrieval system, without permission in writing from Red Wheel/Weiser. Reviewers may quote brief
passages. Originally published in 1993 as The Magick of Thelema: A Handbook of the Rituals of Aleister
Crowley by Red Wheel/Weiser, LLC.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
DuQuette, Lon Milo.
[Magick of Thelema]
The magick of Aleister Crowley : a handbook of the rituals of Thelema
/ Lon Milo Duquette.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 1-57863-299-4
1. Magic. 2. Occultism. 3. Crowley, Aleister, 1875–1947. I. Title.
BF1611.D87 2003
133.4'3—dc22
2003015150
ISBN: 978-1-57863-299-2
Photographs on pages 59, 60, 61, and 62 copyright © 1993 Paul Maska.
Cover and book design by Sky-Peck Design
Typeset in Adobe Garamond
Printed in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for
Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials Z39.48-1992 (R1997).
To my wife of thirty-five years,
Saint Constance of the Well,
Our Lady of Perpetual Motion,
this work is lovingly dedicated.
“There is no bond that can unite the divided but love.”
—LIBER AL VEL LEGIS, I. 41.
CONTENTS
Foreword by Hymenaeus Beta
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Chapter Zero: Frequently Asked Questions about Aleister Crowley
Chapter One: The Magick of Will
Chapter Two: The Evolution of Magical Formulae
Chapter Three: The Book of the Law
Chapter Four: The Pentagram Rituals
Chapter Five: The Thelemic Rituals of the Pentagram
The Star Ruby & Liber V vel Reguli
Chapter Six: The Hexagram Rituals
Chapter Seven: The Thelemic Ritual of the Hexagram
The Star Sapphire
Chapter Eight: Knowledge and Conversation
of the Holy Guardian Angel
Liber Samekh
Chapter Nine: The Solar Rites
Liber Resh & The Mass of the Phoenix
Chapter Ten: Thelemic Mysticism
Liber NV & Liber HAD
Chapter Eleven: The Rites of Eleusis
Chapter Twelve: Thelemic Orders
Chapter Thirteen: The Religion of Thelema
The Mass of Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica
Notes
Bibliography
FOREWORD
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.
leister Crowley possessed far too much technical
A
knowledge of magick to readily understand the
problems of ordinary students. He frequently
asked his younger colleagues to help make his
teachings more accessible, and once explained that “it's the sort of thing I can't
do myself, not knowing the scope of the mind of the ‘gentle reader.’”
Like other “gentle readers” who have delved into Crowley's system on their
own, Brother DuQuette found many of the gaps and pitfalls in the system by the
time-honored method of falling into them, scrambling out, and trying again until
he crossed them. The present work incorporates many of the results of his
personal work.
What is true of science holds true for scientific illuminism. DuQuette is the
first to allow that while some of his findings may be replicated by future
experimenters, others are subjective personal interpretation. But even the latter
are invaluable as suggesting other lines of investigation, and as examples of the
kind of personalization of the system that enables the magician to make it his or
her own.
DuQuette also drew on recent research by other students that will be
formally published in the forthcoming one-volume edition of Crowley's Book
Four. Speaking of Lon Milo DuQuette's mythical eponym, Crowley wrote in
Part II of his Book Four that “Milo began by carrying a newborn calf; and day
by day as it grew into a bull, his strength was found sufficient.” It is not
stretching the metaphor too far to suggest that the present work will be useful to
many students as an introductory guide to those portions of Crowley's magnum
opus dealing with ceremonial magick.
Occultism frequently gives ample grounds for criticism to its detractors by
making insupportable claims for vaguely defined powers, the whole compassed
by nonsensical theory. As Israel Regardie did before him, DuQuette avoids this
by writing from his own experience, with a healthy leavening of common sense
and a refreshing sense of humor.
Love is the law, love under will.
—Hymenaeus Beta
Frater Superior, O.T.O.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
wish first to thank Hymenaeus Beta, Frater Superior
I
of Ordo Templi Orientis, for allowing me access to
the Order's archival material and for his fraternal
encouragement, counsel, and criticism.
My thanks also go to Soror Meral, of the College of Thelema, Christopher S.
Hyatt, of the Israel Regardie Foundation, James Wasserman, Clive Harper, Frater
E. A. O. A., Rick Potter, Latin scholar, David Coe, D.G., Bill Heidrick; and to
Paul J. Maska for his excellent photographs, and Ed Sentowski for his makeup
artistry.
It gives me profound pleasure to thank the dedicated and talented Thelemic
ritualists of Heru-ra-ha Lodge O.T.O., and 93 Lodge O.T.O., with whom I have
labored, and from whom I have learned for more than fifteen years; especially
LeRoy Lauer, Doug James, Karen James, Steve Abbott, Judy Abbott, Jim
Kababick, David P. Wilson, and Constance DuQuette.
Lastly, “…unto them from whose eyes the veil of life hath fallen…,” Grady
L. McMurtry (Caliph Hymenaeus Alpha X°), Francis I. Regardie, Gerald Yorke,
and the “prophet of the lovely Star,” Aleister Crowley, I offer my perpetual
thanks.
The quoted material at the beginning of each chapter is from the works of
Aleister Crowley. In case you would like to explore these passages further, the
following reference list will be of interest.
Chapter Zero: The Poet, from The Stone of the Philosophers, Konx Om Pax,
Originally published in 1907 in a limited edition of 500 copies. First facsimile
edition, with introduction published in 1990 by The Teitan Press, Inc. Chicago,
IL. © 1990 Martin P. Starr. p. 108.
Chapter One: Magick in Theory and Practice (New York: Magickal Childe,
1990), p. xii. This work was originally published in Paris by Lecram Press in
1929.
Chapter Two: “The Pentagram.” From Thumbs Up! Five Poems by Aleister
Crowley, p. 2. This book was privately printed by the O.T.O. in 1942 “for free
distribution among the soldiers and workers of the Forces of Freedom.”