The Works of Aleister Crowley Vol. 2

289 Pages·1973·12.177 MB·English

by  Aleister Crowley

travellers' Edition
THE WORKS
OF
ALEISTER CROWLEY
WITH PORTRAITS
VOLUME II
FOYERS
SOCIETY FOR THE PROPAGATION OF
RELIGIOUS TRUTH
1906
[All rights reserved]
CONTENTS OF VOLUME II
ORACLES- O R ACLES—Continued
PAGE PAGE
The Death of the Drun­ The Storm .... 25
kard .......................................................................I Assumpta Canidia ... 26
A Peep behind the Scenes . i Venus...................................................29
Lines on being Invited to A Litany..........................................30
Meet the Premier in March in the Tropics . . 31
Wales, September 1892 . 1 Night in the Valley . . 32
The Balloon .... 2 Metempsychosis ■ · · 33
Spolia Opima .... 2 Advice of a Letter . . 33
A Welcome to Jabez . . 3 On Waikiki Beach ... 33
Elvina...........................................3 The Triads of Destair . . 34
Adaptation of “ Onward, The Dance of Shiva . . 36
Christian Soldiers” to Sonnet for a Picture . . 36
the Needs of Brethren 3 The House .... 37
To Mrs. O............n C... t . 5 Anima Lunae .... 38
The Little Half-Sovereign 5 “Sabbe Pi Dukkham ” . . 43
Ode to Sappho ... 6 Dhammapada .... 44
In a Lesbian Meadow . . 7 St. Patrick’s Day, 1902. . 48
“Tis Pity-----” ... 7 The Earl’s Quest ... 49
Epilogue to “Green Alps”. 8 Eve .·.... 52
Two Sonnets in Praise of a The Sibyl..........................................52
Publisher .... 8 La Coureuse .... 52
My Wife Dies . . . . 9 Sonnet for a Picture . . 52
Ode to Venus Cali.ipyge . 9 To “ Elizabeth ”, . -53
The Cannibals ... io Rondels (at Monte Carlo) . 53
The Blood-Lotus . .12 In the Great Pyramid of
The Nativity .... 14 Ghizeh · ··· 53
Translations from Baude­ The Hills · · · · 55
laire ..........................................15
Chaldean Fools ... 19
ALICE: AN ADULTERY—
Call of the Sylphs . . 19
Invocation .... 20 Introduction by the Editor 58
Hymn to Apollo ... 22 What Lay Before—
The Hermit’s Hymn to White Poppy . . .61
Solitude .... 23 Messaline . . .62
vi CONTENTS
PAGE PAGE
ALICE: AN ADULTERY— Continued ALICE: AN ADULTERY— Continued
California .... 63 The Thirty-fourth Day 79
Margaret................................. 63 The Thirty-fifth Day . 79
Alice : an Adultery . 64 The Thirty-sixth Day . 79
The First Day 64 Lethe................................. 80
The Second Day 65 The Thirty-seventh Day 80
The Third Day 65 The Thirty-eighth Day 80
The Fourth Day . ' 65 The Thirty-ninth Day . 81
Reincarnation 65 The Fortieth Day . 81
The Fifth Day 66 The Forty-first Day 81
The Sixth Day 66 The Forty-second Day . 82
The Seventh Day . 66 At Last .... 82
The Eighth Day 67 The Forty-third Day . 82
The Ninth Day 67 The Forty-fourth Day 82
The Tenth Day 67 The Forty-fifth Day . 83
The Eleventh Day 68 The Forty-sixth Day . 83
The Twelfth Day . 68 The Forty-seventh Day 83
Red Poppy .... 68 The Forty-eighth Day . 84
The Thirteenth Day . 69 The Forty-ninth Day . 84
The Fourteenth Day . 70 The Fiftieth Day—
The Fifteenth Day 70 I................................. 84
The Sixteenth Day 70 II................................ 85
Alice.......................................... 7i Ill.............................. 85
The Seventeenth Day . 7' After 85
Love and Fear 72 THE ARGONAUTS—
The Eighteenth Day . 73 Actus Primus—Jason 86
The Nineteenth Day 73 Actus Secundus—Argo . 92
The Twentieth Day 73 Actus Tertius—Medea . 98
The Twenty-first Day . 73 Actus Quartus—Sirenab 104
The Twenty-second Day 74 Actus Quintus—Ares 112
The Twenty-third Day 74
The Twenty-fourth Day 74 AHAB AND OTHER POEMS—
The Twenty-fifth Day . 75 Dedicace .... 121
The Twenty-sixth Day 75 Rondel .... 121
Under the Palms . 75 Ahab—
The Twenty-seventh Day . 76 Part I. . 121
The Twenty-eighth Day 77 ,, II. . I24
The Twenty-ninth Day 77 New Year, 1903 Ï27
The Thirtieth Day 77 Melusine . 127
The Day without a Number 78 The Dream 128
The Thirty-first Day . 78 THE GOD-EATER—
The Thirty-second Day 78 Act I. 13°
The Thirty-third Day . 78 „ II. · · '36
CONTENTS vii
PAGE PAGE
THE SWORD OF SONG . . 140 nwi-
Preliminary Invocation— AN ESSAY IN ONTOLOGY . 233
Nothung . . . .141
Introduction to “ Ascension SCIENCE AND BUDDHISM—
Day and Pentecost” . 141 1...........................................................244
Ascension Day .... 144 II.................................................244
Pentecost........................................164 III. The Four Noble Truths . 245
Notes 10 Ascension Day and IV. The Three Character­
Pentecost— istics .... 246
NO IE TO INTRODUCTION . 185 V. Karma........................................249
NOTES '10 ASCENSION DAY . 190 VI. Tiie Ten Fetieus or San-
NOTES TO PENTECOST . . 203 yoganas .... 249
VII. The Relative Reality of
AMBROSII MAGI I-IORTUS RO- Certain States of Con­
SARUM........................................212
sciousness .... 250
Tl-IE THREE CHARACTERISTICS— VIII. Mahasatipattwana . . 252
I. . 225 IX. Agnosticism .... 254
II. . 226 X. The Noble Eightfold
III. 226 Path........................................256
IV. 226 XI. The Twilight of the
V. 227 Germans .... 258
VI. . 227 XII. The Three Refuges . . 259
VII. 227 XIII. Conclusion .... 260
VIII. . 228
THE EXCLUDED MIDDLE ; OR,
IX, . 228
THE SCEPTIC REFUTED . 262
X. . 229
XI. • 230 TIME . 267
XII. • 231
XIII. • 231 EPILOGUE . 283
PUBLISHERS’ NOTE
We beg to express regret for the delay in issuing Vol. II. As
originally made up, it was too big, and had to be recast completely.
Mr. Crowley’s Works to date will thus be complete in three volumes
of this edition.
Advance copies or sets of proofs of Vol. III. will be sent to bona-
fide competitors on their written application The volume should be
issued in December.
Owing to the severe and continuous illness of the artist to whom
the Table of Correspondences was entrusted, we are compelled to
delay its issue.
The Essay Competition will definitely close three months from
date.
Oct. 15, 1906.
Crowley s Works, Vol. II.
ORACLES
THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF AN A*RT
1905
THE DEATH OF THE DRUNKARD.1 The lupus is over her face and head,
Filthy and foul and horrid and dread,
I.
And her shrieks they would almost wake the
Terror, and darkness, and horrid despair ! dead;
Agony painted upon the once fair Rotting away !
Brow of the man who refused to give up
The love of the wine-filled, the o’erflowing
In her horrible grave she lay,
cup.
Rotting away 1
“ Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging.”
Rotting by night, and rotting by day,
No wine in death is his torment assuaging.
Rotting away!
In the place of her face is a gory hole,
II.
And the worms are gnawing the tissues foul,
And the devil is gloating over her soul,
Rotting away !
Just what the parson had told me when
young:
Just what the people in chapel have sung:
“ Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging.”
LINES ON BEING INVITED TO MEET
Desunt cetera. THE PREMIER IN WALES, SEP­
TEMBER 1892.
A PEEP BEHIND THE SCENES. I will not shake thy hand, old man,
I will not shake thy hand ;
In the hospital bed she lay,
You bear a traitor’s brand, old man,
Rotting away!
You bear a liar’s brand.
Cursing by night and cursing by day,
Thy talents are profound and wide,
Rotting away!
Apparent power to win;
1 This, the earliest poem ever written by me, It is not everyone has lied
has perished save the above fragment. Its A nation into sin.
date is 1886.—A. C.
It should be noted that this fragment is of a
wildly revolutionary tendency. It made him And look thou not so black, my friend,
the Ibsen of a school where a parson and a Nor seam that hoary brow;
chapel were considered with the rest of the
non-Plymouth-Brethren world as so many Thy deeds are seamier, my friend,
devils let loose from hell. Thy record blacker now.
* This volume consists of unpublished poems dating from 1886-1903. Concerning the title
Crowley writes, “The sense is of dead leaves drifting in the dusty cave of my mind.” He
does not seem to h.rve been aware that Coleridge gave the title “ Sibylline Leaves ” to a similar
collection.
vol. II. A
2 ORACLES
Your age and sex forbid, old man, Toads are gnawing at my feet.
I need not tell you how, Take them off me quick, I pray !
Or else I’d knock you down, old man, Worms my juicy liver eat.
Like that extremist cow.1 Take the awful beasts away !
Vipers make my bowels their meat.
You’ve gained your every seat, my friend,
Fetch a cunning knife and slay !
By perjuring your soul;
You’ve climbed to Downing Street, my friend,
Kill the tadpoles in my lung,
A very greasy poll.
And the woodlice in my spine,
You bear a traitor’s brand, old man,
And the beast that gnaws my tongue,
You bear a liar’s brand ;
And the weasel at my chine,
I will not shake thy hand, old man,
And the horde of adders young
I will not shake thy hand.
That around mine entrails twine !
\And I didn't.
Come, dissect me 1 Rip the skin 1
Tear the bleeding flesh apart 1
THE BALLOON. See ye all my hellish grin
Written {at the age of fifteen > and still unsur­ While the straining vitals smart.
passed} while in bed with measles at Ton­ Never mind 1 Go in and win,
bridge in Kent, Till you reach my gory heart 1
Floating in the summer air,
What is that for men to see ? While my heart’s soft pulse did go,
Anywhere and everywhere, Devils had it in their bands.
Now a bullet, now a tree— Doctors keep it in a row,
Till we all begin to swear: Now, on varnished wooden stands :
And I really do not know
What the devil can it be?
If it is in different hands.
See its disproportioned head,
Tiny trunk and limbs lopped bare,
Hydrocephalus the dread
SPOLIA OPIMA.
With a surgeon chopping there ;
Chopping legs and arms all red My home is set between two ivory towers,
With the sticky lumps of hair. Fresh with the fragrance of a thousand flowers.
And the twin portals of a ruby door,
Like a man in this complaint
Portcullissed with the pearls of India’s shore,
Floats this creature in the sky,
Loosed with a smile and opened with a kiss,
Till the gaping rustics faint
Bid me a joyous welcome there, I wis.
And the smirking milkmaids cry,
My home is on the brink of heaven’s delight,
As the cord and silk and paint,
But for that endless day a lovelier night
Wood and iron drifteth by.
Is in my home, that sunset’s arms enfold,
Floating in the summer sky Lit with the mellowness of autumn gold.
Like a model of the moon :—
How supreme to be so high Pillowed on linen of the purest white,
In a treacherous balloon, Half-hidden by her locks’ luxurious night,
Like the Kings of Destiny, Maddened by those soft eyes of melting glow,
All the earth for their spittoon. Enamoured of that breast of breathing snow,
1 Mr. Gladstone was attacked by a cow in Caught in the meshes of her fine-spun hair,
Hawarden Park in 1891. Rocked by the beating of her bosom fair,
ADAPTATION 3
Held by her lips too tempting and too warm, Was it sin to press and press thee
Bewitched by every beauty of her form, Till thy burning lips at last
The blush upon her cheek is deeper red, Madly kissed me ? How I bless thee,
Half glad, and half repenting what she said. Now, for that superb repast!
A moment’s struggle, as her form I press :—
All-consuming, all-devouring,
One soft sad sigh. Love conquers. I possess.
All-absorbing, burnt the flame ;
Burnt unchecked till, hotly showering,
A WELCOME TO JABEZ.1 Passion disregarded Shame !
Reprinted from the " Eastbourne Chronicle." Was it sin—that moonlight madness ?
Great Liberator, come again, Was our passion so accurst ?
Thy country needs thee sadly; Sweetness damned to mother Sadness ?
In Scotland Yard they all complain Satisfaction to bring Thirst ?
They “ want ” thee, oh ! so badly. Was our love to bring division ?
Thou canst not tell the sighs and sobs Nay 1 ten thousand devils ! nay !
That for thy presence yearn ; And a devil in a vision
And the great heart of England throbs Hisses as I slumber, “Yea 1
With joy at thy return.
“ Heaven of your accurst creation
For many a year prolong thy stay Shall become a hell of fire ;
By Portland’s shady harbour; Death for kisses, and damnation
And all expenses we will pay— For your love shall God require.”
Especially the barber.
A change of work is rest, they say,
So honest toil shall rest thee ; ADAPTATION OF “ONWARD, CHRIS­
No fears that thou must go away TIAN SOLDIERS ” TO THE NEEDS
Need haunt thee and molest thee. OF BRETHREN.1
We pray a level-headed set
Preface.
Of fellow men, who know thee,
In some small measure grateful yet, In response to many suggestions from dear
May pay thee what is owed thee. Brethren, I have adapted a hymn to the
wants of the Church. In view of the grossly
The joys of single blessedness, unscriptural nature of the original hymn (so-
And undisturbed seclusion, called) many changes have been rendered
We envy for thee, we confess, necessary, but I hope and trust that this has
been effected without losing the grandeur of
Until thy final fusion.
the original.2 To this effort of mine certain
“false brethren unawares brought in” have
objected, saying, “Touch not the accursed
ELVINA.
thing.” I pass over the blasphemy of their
Written at R.astbourne. thus adapting verses of Scripture to their own
vile ends.
Tune—" German Evening Hymn."
Let me, however, tell these “wolves in
Was thy fault to be too tender?
1 This astonishing piece of satire was com­
Was thine error to be weak ?
posed after some weeks in the house of a Ply­
Was my kiss the chief offender mouth Brother. Almost every phrase used
Pressed upon thy blushing cheek ? therein is a quotation, not a parody.
2 See preface to “ Hymns for the Little
1 Jabez Balfour, author of the “Liberator" Flock," 1856, from which this stupefying sen­
frauds. tence has been bodily taken.
4 ORACLES
sheep’s clothing,” these “ clouds without Stoney’s scoundrels shiver at Our howls of
water, carried about of winds; trees whose rage,
fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, Brothers, lift Your voices, Shriek aloud, Ram­
plucked up by the roots ; raging waves of the
page !
sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering
stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of
darkness for ever (Jude 12, 13), that they are Like a mighty army moves the Church of
“dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers,
god.
and murderers, and idolaters ” (Rev. xxii. 15),
Brothers, We are treading where the saints
and again, that they are “fearful and un­
have trod.
believing, and abominable, and murderers,
and whoremongers, and idolaters, and all We are all divided, fifty bodies We,
liars” (Rev. xxi. 8), and that they “shall Fifty hopes and doctrines, nary charity.
have their part in the lake which burneth
with fire and brimstone, which is the second
death” (Rev. xxi. 8), “where their worm Church and chapel perish ! Open Plyms to
dieth not, and the fire is not quenched” hell!
(Mark, ix 44). But Our kind of Brethren still in safety
Let me only add that they are “a herd of dwell.
many swine feeding ” (Matt. viii. 30).
Raven’s lot can never ’gainst the lord
“Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how
prevail,
can ye escape the damnation of hell ? ” (Matt,
xxiii. 33). We are his brave followers, you are Satan’s
And now, beloved brethren, with every tail.
prayer that this adaptation may prove of
lasting blessing to You all, bringing forth
“the fruits of the Spirit ” (Gal. v. 22), especi­ Come then, outside peoples, join Our noble
ally “ faith, hope and charity.” “ But the throng !
greatest of these is charity” (1 Cor. xiii. 13). Blend with Ours your voices in the triumph
song !
Glory, praise and honour unto Us alone !
“ Onward, Plymouth Brethren.” Christians’ necks our footstool, Heaven itself
Our throne !
Chorus.
Onward, Plymouth Brethren, marching P.S.—Beloved Brethren,—The spirit
as to war, indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. For
With the cross of jesus trampled on the I, like Balaam (in the old legend), was com­
floor; pelled to express our real feelings and not
Kelly, Lowe or J ewell1 lead against the o.ur pretended ones. This, of course, abso­
foe, lutely ruins the adaptation. In fact, I am
Forward into battle, see their followers not certain as to whether it does not rather
give us away !
go-
Onward, Plymouth Brethren, marching Alas ! we are only poor, weak, failing
as to war, creatures !
With the cross of jesus trampled on the Your broken-hearted, broken-winded, broken-
floor. kneed brother,
Judas Caiaphas Truelove.
At the name of Barton, Raven’s host doth flee,
On, M'Arthy’s following, on to victory, [The man Truelove was at once put out
1 These and others mentioned are or were of fellowship. He will be certainly damned.
great names among the contending 1 ’ Brethren." —Pii.ate Crosspatch.]