Books
In all systems of religion is to be found a system of Initiation, which may be defined as the process by which a [person] comes to learn that unknown Crown. Though none can communicate either the knowledge or the power to achieve this, which we may call the Great Work, it is yet possible for initiates to guide others.
Aleister Crowley summarizes the nature & purpose of A∴A∴
This book describes the methods of the A∴A∴, step-by-step, in each of its grades from Probationer (0=0) through Exempt Adept (7=4). Often called, by its readers, "a user's guide to THE EQUINOX," it provides comprehensive description of a course of study that allows you to employ effectively the methods of Scientific Illuminism. Never before have the pathways of the Inner Journey been so finely mapped, nor the Way so clearly marked!
By the name "A∴A∴" we designate that One and Eternal Order that Paul Foster Case and Kenneth Mackenzie called the "True and Invisible Order," and Karl von Eckartshausen titled the "Interior Church" or "community of light."
Existing throughout history, silently guiding humanity's cultural and spiritual evolution, it is the Holy of Holies wherein that Sacred Ark rests inviolate. Every legitimate magical order, mystery school, fraternity, or religion disseminating some portion of Wisdom has been an Outer Vehicle of this Inner Fellowship of Light.
There is THAT within each of us, immortal and infinitely creative, which truly gives us birth. Something in us knows, instinctively, that we must (each in our own ripe time) seek this, embrace this, and surrender to this as we would to the most overpowering and fulfilling love. And then we must give it expression in our lives and our work, pouring forth the very essence of ourselves into that which we love most. It is this inner Truth-of-Self — this True Will, or central, guiding spiritual principle of our lives — that the mystical and magical system of the A∴A∴ unveils and awakens from within each of us.
In this new edition, 776½ has grown so much, it should be renamed 776½!
Have you ever tried to use Liber 777 (really use it!) to design and implement magical ritual? Can you read it without your glasses? Can you read it with your glasses? Can you tell its Gimel from its Nun? Can you pronounce the Hebrew names and words in 777 once you can read them? Can you find your way around its tables quickly and efficiently? (Can you answer "yes" to any of these questions?)
Aleister Crowley's Liber 777 remains one of the most important occult references of the 20th Century, demonstrating the interrelationships of diverse philosophical, religious, mystical, and magical systems from around the world. One of Crowley's finest contributions to both practical and theoretical philosophy was this correlation of numerous world traditions, of East and West alike. Yet it has never been very handy for the practicing magician.
Now, this extraordinary compilation by James A. Eshelman, titled 776½, is designed exclusively to support the practice of ceremonial magick. According to its author, "776½ is not quite 777."
776½ contains 182 tables of the most useful practical ceremonial information. Although much of this comes originally from 777, most of the tables have been supplemented and expanded. The Hebrew and other letters are large, clear, and readable. The columns have been reorganized into a more useful sequence. Additionally, almost every Hebrew word or Name in the entire work is also transliterated into English to assist the practitioner in pronunciation. Numerous typographical and other mistakes from 777 have been corrected.
New tables have been added on such topics as: The Genii and Averse Spirits of the 22 Paths from Liber Arcanorum and Liber Carcerorum; the Thelemic, Scandinavian, Assyro-Babylonian, Celtic, Voudoun, and Santeria pantheons; Psychological Attributions of the 32 Paths; use of the Unicursal Hexagram; the Enochian alphabet and three models of its enumeration; and more. Practical correspondences of animals, plants, precious and semiprecious stones, magical weapons, incenses, "magical powers and mystical states," and others have been expanded.
And that's just the first half of the book!Supplementing these extensive lists is a new essay on Ritual Construction (which is also a partial study guide to Crowley's Magick in Theory & Practice) and ten sample magick rituals for such purposes as generating magical force, prosperity, obtaining angelic guardians, remapping your character patterns, the highest spiritual attainments, and The Thelemic Mass.
This third revised edition expands the already popular 1995 edition with new tables and additional data. The instructional essays have been significantly expanded and updated to incorporate new teaching approaches. A new Appendix contains instructions for frequently used small rituals of banishing, invoking, and energizing — including the never-before-published — Liber Pleiades.
"A Black Pearl of Infinite Preciousness"
"Seek the New in the Old ~ Seek the Old in the New." That was the motto of Black Pearl, Temple of Thelema / College of Thelema's biannual journal published 1997-2002. Author James A. Eshelman contributed 100 articles during one of the most prolific periods of his career. This anthology gathers over 40 essays, many of them substantially updated and expanded, and some of them never previously published.
An Introduction to Thelema - the ground shifting world-view of Aleister Crowley — explains Thelema's core principles of Will, Love, and Star, then expands on the nature of True Will and Love Under Will; Thelema's pantheon of gods; and the New Era of Aspiration now opening before us. The rest of the book is organized in 7 parts:
- ⛤ It's in the Basics
- ⛤ Magick
- ⛤ Qabalah
- ⛤ Thelema
- ⛤ Sexual Mysteries
- ⛤ Holy Guardian Angel
- ⛤ The Path
One section ("Magick") explores a dozen topics of ceremonial magick, including traditional and newer forms of the pentagram and hexagram rituals, Sun adorations, new adaptations of classic initiation rites, the ancient art of evocation, and a new ritual for becoming a purer reflection of your deepest spiritual ideal. Chapter 32, The Magical Record of Brother Proserpinus, is a modern tale of a brother of A∴A∴ who undertook the Great Work and succeeded. Four times the size of excerpts published in Black Pearl, this is the centerpiece of the book.
In 1909, Aleister Crowley and his protégé Victor Neuburg obtained a series of 33 mystical visions. At once beautiful, horrible, and inspiring, these inner world explorations (and two earlier ones) were published in 1911 as The Vision & the Voice.
A classic, both of the Enochian magick of Elizabethan wizard John Dee and of Crowley's then-emerging Thelemic magick, The Vision & the Voice remains a living work, its value increasing with each generation.
Astrologers also will find a previously unexploited treasure in this collection: Most of the visions include exact dates, times, and places they were received, providing a unique opportunity to study astrology's relationship to magical vision.
This research bonanza lay untapped for nearly a century.
In Visions & Voices, James A. Eshelman joins the text of Aleister Crowley's Enochian visions with horoscopes for each. To this he adds a masterful astrological and Qabalistic analysis, expanding and deepening his original landmark study (1997-2001). It is his most mature work to date, blending rare expertise in many subjects.
Preliminary chapters provide a valuable introduction to Qabalistic and astrological topics including: the Four Worlds, the Tree of Life, Qabalistic psychology, Enochian magick, the Three Æons, the Holy Guardian Angel and the Abyss, the impact of astrological factors on deep psychological states, and induced mystical vision as a means of exploring the personal and collective unconscious.
The lengthy Glossary will be a standard reference on many an occultist's bookshelf for decades to come.
Visions & Voices will be of considerable interest to astrologers, ceremonial magicians, devotees of mythology and comparative religion, and all who are interested in the operation of symbols (and the archetypes that engender them) in the workings of the human psyche and in crises of transformation.
This book also describes historically rare, extraordinary spiritual states that are becoming increasingly accessible to living women and men. By its words and images, it engenders a contagion of a higher mode of consciousness spread by sympathy. Reading this book mindfully will provide one form of spiritual initiation.
Additionally, it portrays an eclectic spirituality that enthuses our universal need to intimately connect with our own spiritual ideals, rather than dictating what that ideal should be.
