Customer Reviews

Magick Without Tears

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This book proves, to me, that most of what I have read about Crowley, previously, was filtered through the Lens of Prejudice.

I did not start reading Crowley's works, until recently, due to his reputation and the fact that I had read much negative information about him, from the time I was a child (my Grandfather owned "An Index of Possibilities: Energy and Power," which I inherited). Most of my Opinions and Views of Crowley were created by reading the works of Colin Wilson, Nevill Drury, etc.

However, when I started reading Crowley's own words....I saw a different man. In fact, I can no longer believe the accusations of him being mentally unstable at the end of his life.

"Magick Without Tears" was written in the last years of Crowley's life, when other writers say A.C. was nuttier than a fruitcake. Yet, if you read this book, you will quickly realize he was completely Sound of Mind, Educated, Well-Spoken (or written, I should say) and quite Articulate. He obviously retained an enormous wealth of Knowledge in his own mind--only referencing books when necessary. There is no doubt that his mental faculties were still in Prime Condition. In fact, even his crankiness was tinted with a Humorous Quality that made him rather endearing. He writes the way the old guys I hang-out with Act....cranky, yet always suppressing a Mischievous grin playing on their lips & their eyes dancing with boyish light.

Yes, he was a bit Eccentric...but, he seems to wish he had not been quite so Erratic--so that people would-have taken him a bit more seriously. His introversion was displaced by Forced Extroversion, leading him to act over the top many times when, perhaps, it would have been best for him to remain a Poet, instead of a "Beast."

The Contents of "Magick without Tears" prove that the Contents of his mind were a Storehouse of Hidden Knowledge and highly sophisticated schooling--enough-so, to challenge any Professor.

The thing I find most Interesting and Amazing about this book is Crowley's Anthropological Insight into Humanity! I am a student of Anthropology and I never imagined I would find such a wealth of Anthropological Research in the works of Crowley--a man accused of being a Scoundrel and worse, by other writers.

I must say, I have seen more common-sense in the writings of Crowley, than I have in most of the Text books and religious books I have read. I think, perhaps, the reason he was so Ostracized is because he told the Blatant Truth about humanity and people's wishes, desires, behavior, et al.

The rest of Society wanted to sweep their "faults" under the carpet and hide them in the closet--but, Crowley wanted to be Honest and Celebrate these truly Human and NORMAL desires.

I believe someone should bestow an Honorary Anthropology Phd on Aleister Crowley. He makes more sense than most supposedly "educated" men on the subject of the Human Condition.

I could not put this book down--literally...I carried it around the house, reading whenever I got a chance. I strongly suggest this collection of Crowley's writings to anyone interested in the subjects of Crowley, Magick, Anthropology, Psychology, History or Religion.

This book taught me a lesson: "Do your Own Research."

Perhaps the most difficult aspect of Crowley's writings until the early 1930s is that he -- in a word -- can be pompous as hell. Pompousity looks great in major works of philosophy but it's impossible to read. By the time he got to writing this work and The Book of Thoth he had mellowed tremendously. This gives both volumes a much more readable style than magni opi such as Liber 418.

Magick Without Tears contains a number of gems to augment the student's study of more serious works. You won't learn everything you need to know about how to practice Thelemic magick from this book. What you will learn is explanations on issues from the difference between white, black and grey magick; what the formula "0=2" means and how we get there; and how in the world one is supposed to study magick and hold down a job at the same time.

This is a suppliment for the student, not a primary text. Take this approach and you'll be rewarded.

Much of Crowley's work is rife with blinds. This book is about as clear as he gets. While there is certainly deeper meaning than is often obvious at first glance in this book as well, the blinders are off, so to speak. His letters herein make every attempt to be reasonably clear, rather than intentionally misleading the reader. Best read by subject, rather than as you would most books, as is pointed out in the introduction by Regardie. This book should definitely be one of the first stops for beginning students of Crowley's work.

This book was based on the letters from Cara Soror to Aleister Crowley. Of course he did not add any of her letters but he added his. He explains a lot about magick, Thelema, and spirituality. Its more a book on very good information than a ritual instruction book. You wont find out how to do the Middle Pillar or how to properly evoke a goetic spirit, but if you are looking for a book that gives good info on the subject of Magick then this is a good book to get. This one is pretty easy to understand, some of Crowleys works can be confusing to some. When my copy of this book fell apart I purchased a new copy, its that good. If you are interested in the works of Crowley or Thelema or if you are an initiate of the OTO you may really want to read this book. May it never ever go out of print.

While reading this book it is a necessity to understand every sentence that one reads: examples of people who have not accomplished this are present in the negative summaries offered. I cannot believe the mass of people who read Aleister Crowley books once and think that they understand with profound insight, that he is a Lame Idiot. I have yet to discover any writing by this most superior Genious, which is even tinted of vulgar logic-schemes. He takes one with him to the utmost limits of the highest spiritual mountains, only to force their very being to the point of Initiatory Death. At any rate, one should, as Francis Israel Regardie stresses, not read this set of Letters through as if it were a textbook or a novel; the ultimate advantage is to be gained by choosing whatever topic which seems interesting to you at that time, and dissecting the various analogies present, in that Letter--there is no advantage to be gained by sending negativities out about how introductory the best book of Crowley's life is.

This was my introduction into Crowley's approach to Magick.

What I found was lucid, challenging and fascinating.

After reading this work, I was surprized and little non-plussed about all the negative hype around Crowley--I felt the dialog contained in this book was truely the work of masterful mind hard as work at illuminating one of his students.

The book is certainly worth every penny!

This book is a series of short essays written as responses to questions put to Perdurabo by a female student. The idea was that in so doing, he could respond better to the types of questions beginners tend to ask. The experiment was a success. Written near the end of his life, it also serves as ample evidence that, contrary to some reports, Crowley stayed creatively productive until his end.

Magick without Tears is a compendium of Aleister Crowley's thoughts on magic, both practical and theoretical. Written fairly late in his life, the book is composed in the form of short letters on various topics, laid out in a more or less logical, cumulative way. However, it is the sort of books that lends itself well to dipping in at will.

Crowley is engaging, lucid, funny, sensible in writing on all sorts of aspects of magical practice, especially as pertaining to his own magical philosophy of Thelema and the organization which has propagated it, the O.T.O. (www.oto-usa.org) He has a large vocabulary and a large fund of Scriptural references, thanks to his very strict Protestant sectarian upbringing. He is at times deliberately shocking and often infuriating, but perhaps less so here than in other works. If you are interested in the history or practice of magic and occultism, especially in the last century, you cannot afford to skip over Crowley, and Magick without Tears is one of his most accessible books.

First things first: "Cara Soror" means "Dear Sister"; "Cara" is referred to in other reviews as a single individual student but this is a misinterpretation of the text.

Magick Without Tears is filled with gems of wisdom and philosophy, arranged very topically and with a useful index. Crowley uses plain language in the letters although the book does require concentration and more than one reading to absorb much of the content; this is not fluff reading for the beach! His writing style is informal, charming and humorous in some areas and vitriolic in others, especially when confronting lazy or muddled thinking in his students. Pomposity is kept to a minimum and the conversational tone makes The Great Beast seem almost approachable.

Crowley covers a host of topics, from vampires to overcoming one's fears of astral travel to geomancy, womanhood, false "teachers" and other subjects.

It's assumed that readers will have more than a passing familiarity with the points he discusses and occultism in general, and part of the book's appeal is that it answers questions that serious students will already have arrived at on their own. Crowley's insights are certainly illuminating since they spring from a lifetime of experience. To his credit, he advocates critical thinking and skepticism in his students and leaves some blanks for readers to fill in; practical information is freely given to a point, after which it's up to you! Much can be inferred from his silence on certain points also, which is why this book needs careful reading if you want to get the most out of it. Don't let the conversational tone fool you; this book is a serious work with plenty of information there for the taking.

I can appreciate others disatisfaction with this book. However, as a seeker I am constantly having to refocus what it is I am seeking. Or should I say, stay focused on what it is I set out to find. Especially while diving into thick subjects like Qabalah or other mystic traditions.

I notice most people either love Crowleys work or hate it with a passion and set out to destroy what it is he was trying to do when they hit that brick wall of not being able to understand his teachings.

People forget, Crowley was just a man. He was just a man seeking just like you or me or any other person male or female wanting to tap into the secrets of the Cosmos. A person does not pick up a book written by Crowley unless they are truly trying to unravel the Cosmic code of life, the Universe and God. I have noticed when people can not figure out what it is he is writing about they become almost violent in their attacks on his works. Their passion to seek out truth in the mysteries is replaced with repugnant claims of Crowley being a charlatain or at best a drug crazed madman. While in the end these same people make themselves look ignorant and simple minded by the verbage they chose to attack Crowley with. The same goes for anyone attacking any other spiritual path.

I see Crowley for who and what he was, and still is in this world. For his work continues to affect people on so many levels. Crowley did tap into something. He did have a true grasp on some truths that could change ones perspective on how this Universe works, as well as turn religions of the world inside out. That is very dangerous knowledge. And if just anyone had it it could destroy the bearer, or worse, our world. But he could not trust that information with just anyone. Actually he could not trust that information with ANYONE! Notice how eratic some of his writings are. He struggled with how much to share and in what way to present the knowledge he had. That struggle eventually destroyed him in a way. That is why we have stories of his drug use etc...

I know Christians, Muslims, Buddhists just as twisted in their grappling with the Holy Spirit and spiritual truths, and how they try to wrestle with sin and trying to be a good little Christian, or understanding Buddhists etc. We all struggle with these "demons". Its just that some of us can not handle it and those demons take us over. Then you have a priest rapping altar boys, and all the other atrocities you hear of within the Christian or other religious organisations.

I have seen it in all religions, drugs, sexual misconduct, back bitting etc... Its what we end up with when God fails us. In reality it is us that fail ourselves because of lack of faith in the Cosmos. So we give in to corporeal indulgences to cope with our inability to have the faith necessary to actually hear what it is the Universe is saying, doing, creating in our individual lives. What WE are creating in our own lives!

Crowley spent his life searching for truth in the mysteries. He found some very disturbing things on how we can manipulte our corporeal world. If just anyone had that information it could prove dangerous in the wrong hands. He was a member of many spiritual and masonic organisations. These Orders are the gaurdians of these mysteries. So how does one tell the world about these secrets? There is no straight forward way of presenting the material. If he wrote it out in plain black and white English then it would seem impossible and sound more outrageous than what he left us with to ponder after his death. For the truth is far more simpler than we could imagine. Describe love. You know you feel it, you know it causes so many emotions and chemical reactions in your body right down to your very essence. But putting it into words has taken up volumes of pages, thousends of songs, poems, paintings, scultures. Yet we still long to describe OUR individual experience of love. And you want Crowley to, in a few books he left after his death, to explain the mysteries of Magick and the Universe in a way you can understand? POSH!

Spirituality is a journey. Crowleys works are a journey unto themsleves. And if a seeker sets out trying to unravel these mysteries Crowley wrote about, and they stay the course, they will grow through their years of study. It does not happen in one reading or over night. I have spent over 30 years searching, studying, reading, practicing, praying, crying, yelling at God, the Universe and the Cosmos for answers to all of this we call the Universe, God, Allah, Magick etc... It DOES NOT happen over night. And yes, some of his writings are plain and simple drivel. But it is all part of the journey. HIS JOURNEY, not yours or mine. So there is no way to truly understand everything he had to say, because there are some things words just cant explain.

I can create some of the most wonderful things through Magick. But trying to explain how it works is impossible. I know how it works. I understand whats going on with the energy I manipulate. But putting it into words for YOU to understand is impossible. Mainly because the Universe, God, the Cosmos, all of these words we use to describe our creator or Origin, is personal unto each individual.

Christians would say the Holy Spirit speaks to each of us on our own spiritual understanding level. While I may feed on spiritual milk, you might be more advanced and feed on spiritual meat. So it is with Crowley. There is some meat there we will never understand until we get to that level. Then again, we may never be able to convey that understanding to another person because they might not be ready for it.

In closing, I challenge you or anyone else out there to stop judging this man and stay the course of your own journey. You will find gems of truth, and you will find utter nonsense as well. But you will need the nonsense to off set your journey at times. To challenge you and your sincerity in the things you seek. The Cosmos know when you need a break to ponder whats in front of you. Trust these times and take time to ponder that "drivel" you claim Crowley wrote, or any other drivel you have on your plate. In the long run you may find it wasnt drivel after all, that you were just blinded by the veil and couldnt see the forest for the trees. It is all part of your personal journey and came into your life for a reason.

As I said before, one does not read Crowleys work for entertainment. If a person picks up one of his books they are seeking something more than a sci-fi mind escape. They are seeking to understand the mysteries. And anyone on this journey knows a mystery is always clouded with booby traps and things to throw you off. For only the sincere seeker will find the truth in the end. All others will do nothing more than write sour commentaries attacking the subject at hand out of ignorance.

If you have read any of Crowleys books I urge you to read this one too. It wont hurt you. It will only add to your knowledge base of one of the most contoversial Qabalistic writers ever known.

And if you dont like it. Email me. I will buy your copy.
Frater SEB/Veritas Quaerito