Aleister Crowley - Magical Record of the Beast 666

344 Pages·2011·28.74 MB·English

Tlte Magical Record of tlte Beast 666

The Mrgrcal Record
of the
Beast
666
*
THE DIARIES OF
Aleister Crowl"y
r9r4-r92o
EDITED WITH COPIOUS ANNOTATIONS BY
John Symonds
AND
Kenneth Grant
Duckworth
Third imPression 1993
Second imPression r983
First Publishe dir' rg72bY
GeralilDuclororth & Co Ltd
The Old Piano Factory
Hoxton Square, London Nt 6PB
48
@ tg'lzbyJohn Symonds and Kenneth Grant
All rights reserved' No part of this publication
-"y U""r"p.oduced, stored in a retrieval system' or
tr-a-nsmitted^, in any form or by any means' electronic'
mechanical, photocopying, record-ing or otherwise'
without the ptior permission of the publisher'
A catalogue record for this book is available
from the British L\brary
ISBN o 7156 I2o8 5
Printed and bound in Great Britain by
Biddles Ltd, Guildford and King's Lynn
TO THE MEMORY OF
Karl
Germer
Jo/tannes
r885-t962
FRATER SATURNUS, xo o.T.o.
V/HOSE DEVOTION SUSTAINED CROWLEY
IN I{IS LAST YEARS

CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
lx
AC KNO'WLEDGMENTS
XV
Rex de Arte Regia
I
The Magical Record of the Beast
83
Liber Al vel Legis (The Book of the
Law)
tot
TNDEX
tt7
1
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ir
C
a
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A
ir
s
F
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L
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U
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tl
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F
ir
INTRODUCTION
The Magician should teep a diary. \,Mhen clowlel at the age of twenty-
three entered the Golder bu*n, ihe Hermeti. ,o.i"ty which'flourished in
the r89os, he started to record his magical uaiviaes. fn" ffii"g of a diaty
icsr aptiaornt ooff mthaeg iocaccl uul/re atpraodnsit.ion, "s imiortant as the acquisiti'on and. conse_
Some po,rtions of these eady crowley diaries arc e*tant; they contain
accounts-of visions, rituals performed, magicar schemes. ih. r.irio.r. -.".
either induced by cocain. o"^ *.r. the spontaneous products of his imagin_
ation. As visions, they are not impressive, and ,"rr.ll C;;;L;;, feelings of
isolation, guilt and megaromani".^ on. is supposed to take Jhem literaily.
some fragments are pobtistt.d in his coofirloo, r""g.t^.*..rpr,
ptinted in his occult magazine, The Equinox. "rJ ^..
Magic is based ,rpotr thre. principles. The first is that there exists a
timeless realm called the Astrai plane or the Astral Light. It is a plastic
medium, more fluid than the real wodd, easier to uff ci iq int .p.netrates
and supports the rear or tangible wodd und ir th.'*^"] by which
soothsaying and clairv.oyan..."i. possibre. The ;;;"J;r-cipre of
magic is that the disciplined will of, mthaed eM 'agician can achieve anithing; it is
limitless. The third ,i.iom of magic is thit ,h.r. ;r;^;;ri"lporra.n..
o,
1ryl"gy between what appears an.-d what is real, u.*."" ,rr" L"r, tn.
hidden, the microcosm in=man and the macrocosm of the universe." Trahi s is
'the doctrine of signatures' and is illustrared in the mystical ,;;i;g, .lfhat is
above is also below.,
"_llr 1*1tr and processes of vrhat is called ceremonial Magic, alr those
sPells' charms' mantras, etc., have only one aim-that of stiiuiating
and
developing the will or-latent spiritual powers of the Magi.i;-;Marter is an
1a1lte|rr1a'-u:_oln_ .1a.t: rt;h9,e Pbefh e$sZti lol f_ tthkoeu cgteha mtoirn,'d w, raonted c.ororwr.lqeoy &ind yin ss umsacgenputmib ,lep uot,f
Magick in Theory and practice.
simcriolawr letoy' sh iwsa vnzdnedrinegiisn gosn oannd . rerxtpil.o rHateio nms eotf tthhee Akisntdta lo pf laenneti taieres vthearyt
interested him and found-the same sacred and profane places ,nJ ritoutiorrr.
Fimuargtheesr manodr eth, eo nsp tihriet wAesrtera rle hveisa loewd nto h tihded eanlc hneamtuisret bwya tsh ere pvel;arl)eud oto* rh;oim. as
ceremonial magic is long and wearisome and trre materiars expensive.
ix