Customer Reviews

Commentaries on the Holy Books and Other Papers: The Equinox (Equinox, Vol 4, No 1)

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This Volume of the Equinox contains much more than mere Commentaries to the Holy Books, it contains the essence of knowledge that Crowley was capable of, woven into the structure of the Commentaries, making this the companion to every man's life-style. The Commentary for Liber LXV encompasses the means to invoke one's Guardian Angel in the simplist method possible. The Voice of the Silence' Commentary manifests the inherent differences between the Brother of the Right and Left Hand Paths and every other matter of the Crossing of the Abyss, concentrated within the scope of comparatively nothing -- he has extracted the needed material to the smallest possible space. There is knowledge offered in this Volume nowhere else able to be found on the nature of Crowley's Philosophies.

If the quaternary elements of Book Four are the prose of Thelema, then volumes like this are its poetry. The book proves its worth early on by presenting a FULL A.'.A.'. curriculum, then explores deeper mysteries with Liber LXV and a brilliantly commented edition of Blavatsky's Voice of the Silence. Additionally, the book contains several beautiful color plates and a very useful illustration of the Tree of Life (with corrected attributions). My only issue with the book is that much of this information can be obtained elsewhere, especially in online archives, but since when has that ever stopped people like us from buying another Crowley book? ;-) AL II:9

Review from BLACK PEARL: The Journal of the College of Thelema (Vol. I, No. 1, March, 1997). Copyright 1997, College of Thelema (permission by editor granted Amazon Books to use). COMMENTARIES ON THE HOLY BOOKS & OTHER PAPERS by Aleister Crowley, with H.P. Blavatsky, J.F.C. Fuller & Charles Stansfeld Jones. (Samuel Weiser, Inc., 1996. Hardcover, 382 pp. ISBN 0-87728-888-7. $40.00) Fra. Hymenæus Beta is the preeminent Crowley editor of our time. Although his name does not appear anywhere on this present volume (subtitled The Equinox, Vol. IV, No. 1), his able hand is visible in both the quality handling of the content, and the beautiful form. Primarily, the volume consists of Crowley commentaries to many Class A Documents; but it contains much more. Its main feature is the 'Holy Book' Liber Cordis Cincte Serpente (Liber LXV), with Crowley's extraordinary commentary thereon. In addition to Karl Germer's small 1952 Ontario edition, the commentary had been serialized by Sor. Meral (In the Continuum, I:7-II:1, 1976-1979), and later published by C.O.T. in a single volume (1995). Unfortunately, in the present book the editor did not see fit to maintain the useful format of these three earlier editions wherein the commentary was positioned opposite and facing the corresponding text of Liber LXV. Other, shorter commentaries are included (on Libri B, Liberi, Trigrammaton, Stellæ Rubeæ, A'ash, Tav, and Ararita). Some have been published before; most have not. Their inclusion lends a welcome completeness to the volume. Frater Achad's commentary on Liber A'ash (written by him as an A.'.A.'. assignment, and then annotated by Crowley) will interest many. Also reprinted are documents important in defining the A.'.A.'. training system -- essentially the same set of defining documents appended, in 1993, to C.O.T.'s The Mystical & Magical System of the A.'.A.'. (One Star in Sight, Liber XIII, and Liber CLXXXV -- to which this book adds An Account of A.'.A.'.). These are introduced by a hitherto unpublished Crowley essay titled "Occultism," which includes one unpublished version of the A.'.A.'. Student Examination. A large color plate section includes a color reproduction of Crowley's original illuminated manuscript of Liber Pyramidos. Readers of "John St. John" (in Equinox 1) will recall that, during a magical retirement in late 1908, Crowley adapted the A.'.A.'. Neophyte initiation ceremony into a self-initiation ritual for his use in attaining the 6=5 Grade. This self-initiation ritual is now published. Though known to private collectors for many years, this color manuscript has not been available to most students until now, and we are happy to see it finally in print. However, we must disagree with the editor's labeling it as Liber DCLXXI, since that is the number of the official A.'.A.'. initiation ritual from which it was adapted, Liber ThROA. The one serious embarrassment of the volume is a new paper titled Liber Vesta, which claims to give "the correct designs (with color illustrations)" of the robes for each A.'.A.'. grade. This paper is new, created for the A.'.A.'. lineage served by the individuals who lent it their imprimatur. Except for the Probationer robe, these designs do not at all match those which have come down to us from the A.'.A.'.'s founders. They do not even distantly resemble the many published photographs of A.'.A.'. robes which embellish Crowley's writings. (The correct designs, published in Appendix F of The Mystical & Magical System of the A.'.A.'., 2nd. Ed., will be reprinted with further discussion in a later issue of BLACK PEARL.) Our conclusion, based on the colorful and entertaining appearance of these robes and the fact that the book was released the first week of October, is that Liber Vesta was the special Halloween Supplement. A further criticism concerns the inclusion of Blavatsky's (non-Class A) The Voice of the Silence, with Crowley's commentary. This lengthy piece -- constituting one-third of the entire, expensive volume -- was already included in Equinox III:1 (the "Blue Equinox"), and in Gems. It is readily available. Its inclusion here makes no sense in terms of the present book, the Equinox series overall, or service to the audience, and merely cranked up the size and cost unnecessarily. In fact, about 85% of this book's contents are already in print and accessible (which, however, is not inappropriate for a reference volume). Nonetheless, based, if nothing else, on the full color Pyramidos, and the compendium of commentaries, the book has enough new material, of such excellent virtue, as to win a Three Rose recommendation (|||). -- QUIL

93. This is an incredible book, and not only because it begins a new volume (IV) in the Equinox journal of scinetific illuminism. It makes available for the first time, on a large scale, several important commentaries on the Holy Books, as well as the founding documents of the Ordo A.'.A.'., by whom this book is edited. In more ways than one this book may prove to be to the Ordo A.'.A.'., what the Equinox III 10 was to the O.T.O. It is definitely one of the books every self respecting Thelemite must have on his book shelf. 93 93/93.

This book is a must read for anyone interested in Crowley and the A.'. A.'. . Thankfully, after being out of print it is due to be reissued in an expended volume shortly, thus enabling serious students to obtain it at more affordable prices.

As a Thelemite, I was originally drawn to the Book of the Law (Liber AL) because it deeply resonated with me. This book is no different, save that in some texts there are only the verses quoted that are commented upon. I think it is important for a Thelemite to get their own insight before reading Crowley's commentaries, or to compare both. But one could continue to get insight over time. Crowley's commentaries are based on not only his insight as a Thelemite but in relation to his previous experience as a Buddhist and yogi. The introductions are fitting and effectively quashes any notions of a secret society (i.e. The Illuminati). I also enjoyed the copies of the original artwork included.

The condition of the item was exactly as described and it arrived much sooner than the estimated deliveries date.

This is a good work of Aleister Crowley. Some of the essays and elements within have been reprinted in other volumes, but this one is still a good choice. I would recomend it especially for any followers of Crowley or the Golden Dawn; but it is still a good read for anyone just interested in theory.

93- This formidable tome contains an annotated version of 'The Heart Girt with a Serpent' with notes by The Master Therion and some unusual color plates of the robes for the outer order of the A:.A:. The rest of the material can also be found in the 'Blue Equinox' (Vol III No. I) and consists of annotations to works by Blavatsky. The notes on 'The Heart...' show how rich and wonderful the holy book sof Thelema can be and how knowledgable one has to be to understand their initiated interpretation. Also included are some notes on other class A and D documents

I can tell you what I found out. Prophet Crowley, during his lifetime, was a prolific writer of esoteric subjects. Despite later claims he was a psychopath and junkie, he was really high class especially before he retired in Hastings. The bulk of Crowley's major books were issued seperately as a mammoth tome called The Equinox, a now legendary tome containing among others, this book as its contents. Examples of other issues would be The Book of Thoth itself making up one volume of The Equinox and The Book of Wisdom or Folly also taking up a seperate volume. The Equinox reissued by Weiser as one complete manuel used to be in excess of $1,000. But I got all what I wanted what I considered his major works as seperate reissues affordably priced for someone even making a little more than minimum wage. When I held jobs at a local college, I got Crowley thinking his books were not priced very high especially for someone as famous as him. But this one was expensive by even my lower standards. I did place an order for it online but just weeks after I didn't recieve it, the book was getting harder to find. But I did find a new copy elsewhere. This holds up well even though it is more obscure than even most of his better known works, containing some class A material and some final occult knowledge to the seeker that, while imposing, is worth it.