Magick, Liber Aba, Book 4 [Paperback]

Aleister Crowley (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 8, 2009

Book 4 is widely considered to be the magnum opus of 20th century occultist Aleister Crowley. It is a detailed treatise on Magick, his system of Western occult practice, synthesized from many sources, including Eastern Yoga, Hermeticism, medieval grimoires, contemporary magical theories from writers like Eliphas Levi and Helena Blavatsky, and his own original contributions. This abridged, illustrated version consists of four parts: Mysticism, Magick (Elementary Theory), Magick in Theory and Practice, and THE EQUINOX OF THE GODS (the short biography of Aleister Crowley)

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Born Edward Alexander Crowley, and also known as both Frater Perdurabo and The Great Beast, was an influential English occultist, astrologer, mystic and ceremonial magician, responsible for founding the religious philosophy of Thelema. He was also successful in various other fields, including mountaineering, chess and poetry. In his role as the founder of the Thelemite philosophy, he came to see himself as the prophet who was entrusted with informing humanity that it was entering the new Aeon of Horus in the early twentieth century. Born into a wealthy upper class family, as a young man he became an influential member of the esoteric Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn after befriending the order's leader, Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers. Subsequently believing that he was being contacted by his Holy Guardian Angel, an entity known as Aiwass, while staying in Egypt in 1904.

Product Details

• Paperback: 294 pages
• Publisher: CreateSpace (February 8, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1441473653
• ISBN-13: 978-1441473653
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,518,948 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Save up and buy the Blue Brick, April 24, 2009

By 

Fr. Gets What He Pays IV (NYC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Magick, Liber Aba, Book 4 (Paperback)

Navigate away from this page, from this item, and look elsewhere.

I can't say I regret this purchase--I already have an old copy of Magick in Theory and Practice (which is Book III of this big chunk-o'-book), but considrering what I paid for that (ahem) I don't want to lug that around in my backpack, it getting well-read but banged up in the process. Obviously, the Blue Brick version is not backpack-friendly either, weighing 140 lbs. as it does. My situation is such that for $15 I could investigate this safely.

That being said, I would strongly advise against anyone doing the same. From the badly pixelated, obviously-lo-res-.jpg cover, to the almost-complete lack of illustrations (instead you get bracketed descriptions of what the image would be, if it were there), it is clear that the perpetrator behind this edition cut and pasted the contents from various online editions, and didn't really waste time on subsequent typesetting, either.

A quick word--I'm reviewing this edition. As far as the contents, it doesn't get better. Mow some extra lawns, save your ducats, and get the hardcover, actually-illustrated version; or, if you can find an affordable used copy of Magick in Theory and Practice get that, as that has got to be the best introduction to the philosophy/mechanics of magick out there.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Editing is no Magick (so isn't copy/pasting), October 24, 2010

By 

Fra Arcad - See all my reviews

This review is from: Magick, Liber Aba, Book 4 (Paperback)

I was quite happy when I found this book as it is supposed to be a complete version of Book 4. I should have had a second look into the book before buying it. It is poorely edited and it lacks all diagrams etc. The footnotes are in the middle of the text instead at the end of the page (or book) and it is not clear where the "footnote" text ends and the normal text continues. Also there are correction notes in the text "...should read...". The bad pixled cover pic should have been enough indication for a bad layout. Some parts of the book have a very confusing layout. I mean the entire book is available online. It should have been rather simple to copy the stuff together and put it in the right format for printing. Additions, further editing etc were not necessary. Seriously, if you want the complete and accurate version of this book, search for the online parts as long as there is no other, better edited version of this book available.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars The Modern "Castle" Edition...in a way., March 2, 2009

By 

MWebb (Berkeley, CA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Magick, Liber Aba, Book 4 (Paperback)

For years the only available edition of Magick in Theory and Practice was the facsimile reproduction by Castle Books, a niche publishing house that specialized in out of print books.

Rather than re-typeset the out-of-print book, Castle would find a good to fair copy and photograph it to make their printing plates.

Besides making it economical to reprint a book (no copyright fees, no typesetting charges) it was a good way to assure there were no inadvertent second generation typos. Of course at the time I was [...] that imperfections in the printing were reproduced and second-generation "fuzziness" was introduced, but now I appreciate the fact that, at the time, it wasn't easy to tamper with the text of a facsimile reproduction.

Castle kept their hands off the text - they didn't cut anything, neither did they add gratuitous introductions or explanatory footnotes.

Unfortunately, the Castle edition of Magick in Theory and Practice seems to have gone out of print, so there is no inexpensive, compact edition to turn to. [...] Hymenaeus Beta also edited the masterful Book 4 which is available on Amazon and is the recommended edition, but it is hardcover, heavy, extensively annotated, and relatively expensive (or inexpensive, depending on how you value such things).

In short, the "authorized" Beta edition has one minor fault: it makes a poor beach book. It's too big, heavy and expensive to drag around for a quick read.

Thus this inexpensive paperback edition is to be welcomed and regretted at the same time: welcomed because it appears to be based on later electronic editions of Book 4/MTP that have been corrected vs. the Castle Books facsimile edition we of the older generation had to grow up with ; and regretted because we don't have any assurance as to the provenance of the electronic version of the text. I doubt the publisher input the Castle Books edition; rather the text was probably taken from one of the on-line electronic editions.

What I'd like to see is some assurance from the publisher that it worked from an accurate electronic version; in that regard, ultimately I'd like Beta or the OTO to release their own stripped down, paperback, on demand version, with their imprint to assure us of the textual accuracy and completeness, a version that includes their corrections (if not their annotations).

After all, a "luggable" version of this otherwise unluggable book would be great. For that matter, since the Beta edition of Book 4 is more likely to be the "practice" text, I'd love to see the Magick in Theory and Practice section published in paperback just by itself. I love lugging MTP on a flight to read Crowley's essays, which meander between wit and brilliance, the "on demand" idea as implemented by Amazon is first rate.

BTW, for those who can afford Kindle, Amazon is offering the e-book version for mere pence.

My rating (3 start instead of 5) is based only on my residual worries about the accuracy and provenance of the text. The printing and binding are first rate, the cover design is great, and the materials (the words) themselves are top notch, the few formatting glitches can be forgiven as the labor of love this book appears to be. Hopefully the publisher will publish a response about the origins of the text and purpose in publishing.