The Inspirational Mr. Crowley

Aleistair Crowley that is. If you haven't heard of him... where the hell have you been?? I'll do a great dis-service to those who actually don't know of him, and not explain who he was or what he did, O.K.?

I got my first Crowley book (Magick in Theory and Practice) in 1986. Since then, I've acquired most of the books he's written, as far as I know. Acquired that is, not actually read. (Ozzy my friend, I want to know what he meant too, I just haven't quite firgured it out yet.) It isn't that I haven't tried, and it's not that I've tried and failed either. He has a truly devilish sense of humor I love, and conceptually I think I have him down pretty well. I'm with him on Theory, it's the Practice which eludes me.

Here's why: His writings never fail to make me think. It's mental exercise, rather than exhausting, it's exhilerating. He gives me sense of how much I don't know, not about his stuff, but in the general sense.

I started reading 777 last weekend, and here's what I came away with: I newfound desire to learn the Alphabet. Why did it take Crowley to make me see this?

I.... don't.... know.