Occult-Magick

This is the first part of the publication of Magick without tears on Occult Magick blog. The whole book wil be published a chapter at a time at regular intervals.

In 1943 Aleister Crowley met a lady who, having heard of his
wide
knowledge and experience, asked his advice on occult,
spiritual, and
practical matters.

This chance connection resulted in a stimulating exchange of
letters. Crowley then asked others to put similar questions to him.The result was this collection of over eighty letters which are now being issued over the title that he chose, "MAGICK WITHOUT TEARS".

Crowley did not keep copies of his early letters to the above-mentioned lady, so was unable to include them in the collection that he planned to publish. Fortunately they have been preserved and are now included
in the introduction to this book. Their original form has been retained
with the opening and closing formulae which Crowley used in all his letters.

Crowley at first intended to call the book "ALEISTER EXPLAINS EVERYTHING",
and sent the following circular to his friends and disciples asking them to suggest subjects for inclusion.


"Much gratified was the author of THE BOOK OF THOTH to have so many letters of appreciation, mostly from women, thanking him for not 'putting it in unintelligible language', for 'making it all so clear that even I with my limited intelligence can understand it, or think I do.'

"Nevertheless and notwithstanding! For many years the Master Therion has felt acutely the need of some groundwork-teaching suited to those who have only just begun the study of Magick and its subsidiary sciences, or are merely curious about it, or interested in itwith intent to study. Always he has done his utmost to make his meaning clear to the average intelligent educated person, but even those who understand him perfectly and are most sympathetic to his work, agree that in this respect he has often failed.

"So much for the diagnosis --- now for the remedy!

"One genius, inspired of the gods, suggested recently that
the riddle might be solved somewhat on the old and well-tried lines of 'Dr. Brewer's Guide to Science'; i.e., by having
aspirants write to the Master asking questions, the kind of problem
that naturally comes into the mind of any sensible enquirer, and getting his answer in the form of a letter. 'What is it?' 'Why should I bother my head about it?' 'What are it's principles?' 'What use is it?' 'How do I begin?', and the like.

"This plan has been put into action; the idea has been to
cover the subjects from every possible angle. The style has been colloquial and fluent; technical terms have either been carefully avoided or most carefully explained; and the letter has not been admitted to the series until the querent has expressed
satisfaction.
Some seventy letters, up to the present have been written,
but still there seem to be certain gaps in the demonstration, like
those whitepatches on the map of the World, which looked so tempting fifty years
ago.

"This memorandum is to ask for your collaboration and
support. A list, indicating briefly the subject of each letter already
written,is appended. Should you think that any of those will help
you in your own problems, a typed copy will be sent to you at once ...
Should you want to know anything outside the scope, send in your question (stated as fully and clearly as possible) ... The answer
should reach you, bar accidents, in less than a month ... It is proposed ultimately to issue the series in book form."

_______

This has now been done.

Karl J. Germer
Frater Saturnus Xø
Frater Superior, O.T.O.
January, 1954 e.v.
Hampton, N.J.

LETTERS WRITTEN BY MASTER THERION TO A STUDENT

Letter No. A
March 19, 1943
Cara Soror,

Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law
I was very glad to gather from your conversation yesterday afternoon that you have a serious intention of taking up the Great Work in
the proper spirit. Your criticisms of previous experience in the course of your ad-ventures appeared to be singularly sane and just. As I promised I am writing this letter to cover a few practical points which we
had not time to discuss and which in any case I think it better to arrange by correspon-dence.

1) It is of the first importance that you should understand my personal position. It is not actually wrong to regard me as a teacher, but it is certainly liable to mislead; fellow-student, or, if you like, fellow-
sufferer, seems a more appropiate definition.The climax of my life was what is known as the Cairo Working, described in the minutest detail in the Equinox of the Gods. At that time most of The
Book of the Law was completely unintelligible to me, and a good deal of it - especially the third chapter - extremely antipathetic. I fought against this book for years; but it proved irresistible.
I do not think I am boasting unfairly when I say that my personal researches have been of the greatest value and importance to the study of the subject of Magick and Mysticism in general, especially my
integration of the various thought-systems of the world, notably the identification of the system of the Yi King with that of the Qabalah. But I do assure you that the whole of my life's work, were it multiplied a thousand fold, would
not be worth one tithe of the value of a single verse of The Book of the Law.


I think you should have a copy of the Equinox of the Gods and make The Book of the Law your constant study. Such value as my own
work may possess for you should amount to no more than an aid to the interpretation of thisbook.
2) It may be that later on you will want a copy of Eight Lectures on Yoga so I am putting a copy aside for you in case you should want it.
3) With regard to the O.T.O., I believe I can find you a typescript of all the official documents. If so, I will let you have them to read, and you can make up your mind as to whether you wish to
affiliate to theThird Degree of the Order. I should consequently, in the case of your deciding to affiliate, go with you though the script of the Rituals and ex-plain the meaning of the whole thing; communicating, in
addition, the real secret and significant knowledge of which ordinary Masonry is not possessed
4) The horoscope; I do not like doing these at all, but it is part of the agreement with the Grand Treasurer of the O.T.O. that I
should undertake them in worthy cases, if pressed. But I prefer to keep the figure tomyself for future reference, in case any significant event makes consultation desirable.

Now there is one really important matter. The only thing besides The Bookof the Law which is in the forefront of the battle. As I
told you yesterday, the first essential is the dedication of all that one is and all thatone has to the Great Work, without reservation of any sort. This must bekept constantly in mind; the way to do this is to practice
Liber Resh vel Helios, sub figura CC, pp. 425-426 - Magick. There is another versionof these Adorations, slightly fuller; but those in the text are quite al-right. The important thing is not to forget. I shall have to teach you
the signs and gestures which go with the words.

It is also desirable before beginning a formal meal to go through the following dialogue: Knock 3-5-3: say, "Do what thou wilt shall be the wholeof the Law." The person at the other end of the table
replies: "What is thy Will?" You: "It is my Will to eat and drink." He: "To what end?"
You: "That my body may be fortified thereby." He: "To what end?"
You:"That I may accomplish the Great Work." He: "Love is thelaw, love underwill."
You, with a single knock: "Fall to." When alone make a monologueof it: thus, Knock 3-5-3. Do what, etc. It is my Will to, etc., that mybody, etc., that I may, etc., Love is, etc. Knock: and
begin to eat.

It is impossible to exaggerate the importance of performing these smallceremonies regularly, and being as nearly accurate as possible with regard to the times. You must not mind stopping in the middle of a
crowded thooughfare --- lorries or no lorries --- and saying the Adorations; and you mustnot mind snubbing your guest --- or your host --- if he or
she should prove ignorant of his or her share of the dialogue. It is perhaps because these matters are so petty and trivial in appearance that they
afford so excellent a training. They teach you concentration, mindfulness, moral and social courage, and a host of other virtues.

Like a perfect lady, I have kept the tit bit to the last. It is absolutely essential to begin a magical diary, and keep it up daily. You begin by anaccount of your life, going back even before your birth to your ancestry. In conformity with the practice which you may perhaps choose to adopt later,
given in Liber Thisarb, sub figura CMXIII, paragraphs 27-28, Magick, pp. 420-422, you must find an answer to the question: "How did I come to be in this place at this time, engaged in this particular work?" As you will see from the book, this will start you on the discoveryof who you really are, and eventually lead you to your recovering the memory of previous incarnations.

As it is difficult for you to come to Town except at rare and irregular intervals, may I suggest a plan which has previously proved very useful, and that is a weekly letter. Eliphas L?vi did this with the Baron Spedalieri , and the correspondence is one of the most interesting of his works. you ask such questions as you wish to have answered, and I answer them to the best of my ability. I, of course, add spontaneous remarks which may be elicited by my observations on your progress and the perusal of your magical diary. This, of course, should be written on one side of the paper only, so that the opposite page is free for comments, and an arrangement should be made for it to be inspected at regular intervals.