The book of lies by Aleister Crowley?

Question

Is there anywhere I can get help on this book? I want to understand it but know little of mystics.

Answer 1

Quite Frankly, EVERY book by Crowley was a "Book of Lies"!

"There is an incident that occurred young Crowley’s life that changed him which is usually overlooked by all but a few people doing research on Crowley. I feel it was this incident that started poor Crowley on his path to ruin. When he was 14 years old, he was knocked unconscious after a mishap with a homemade firework on Guy Fawkes night, 1891(1). The homemade "roman candle" consisted of a large glass jar with almost two pounds of gun powder. The explosion shattered nearby windows, left Crowley with pieces of gravel embedded in his face, and knocked Crowley unconscious. He remained in a coma for four days (2), and had to wear a blindfold for two weeks for fear he would go blind from the flash. After he came out of the coma, or so it is said, Crowley had a marked change in his personality and behavior. Some of his followers believe that this accident opened up what Colin Wilson might call "faculty X", giving Crowley "mystical powers". In reality, what it probably did was give him minor brain damage. People who suffer head injuries involving brain damage often exhibit a change in personality and psychotic behavior, and any trained psychologist or psychiatrist will tell you this is so. Psychotic behavior can include extreme impulsiveness, aggressiveness and a disregard for the law and the rights of others. There is no one more important in the world of the psychotic than himself. Crowley exhibited these behaviors after his mishap. It was on that Guy Fawkes Night that Edward Alexander Crowley ended and Aleister Crowley began."

Crowley was a psychotic who died a penniless disease ridden junkie in a flophouse. He wasn't a demi-god, a prophet, or a "Magickian". And above all else, he's not someome to be taken seriously! Sure, he wrote all kinds of mystical sounding stuff...and he also defecated on hotel carpets and squandered his money on prostitutes and dope. He boasted a system of developing will power to the point where drugs could be taken harmlessly. In reality, even he couldn't do it...niether can anyone else. Follow Crowley and you'll wind up a junkie. This might not be what you wanted to hear, but it's the truth.

My advice for anyone reading Crowley's books is to forget him and switch to the non-fiction writings of C.S. Lewis instead.

Answer 2

Aleister Crowley Book Of Lies

Answer 3

I can't be of much direct help on this, but I will suggest that since the title is "The Book of Lies" you might get some insights by translating some of the assertions into their opposite meaning. But of course a really good liar mixes truth with falsehood, so knowing which sentences to invert and which to take at face value will be tough. The point, of course, is that it is meant to be tough. This is basically a jigsaw puzzle, and the idea is to assemble the pieces to create a meaningful whole. But when you first open the box and dump out the pieces, some of the pieces are upside-down. To assemble the puzzle you will need to flip some (but not all) of the pieces over.

But something else to consider: The fruit of you labor is NOT to be found in the finished puzzle. The finished puzzle might even be a sort of metaphysical joke. The true meaning and value of the puzzle is in the assembly process. When you join a fitness club and run around a track, the goal is NOT to run around the track. The goal is NOT to arrive at any particular physical location. IF you ran around the track with the goal of reaching a desired destination, the circularity of the track would be a joke played on you. No, the goal of running around the track is in the running itself – it is in the process itself – because it is the process that pushes you to new levels of strength and health. This is a typical trick of the mystics. They never give you simple answer because they know that simple answers are always lies. Simple answers have to be lies because, according to most mystical traditions, life is motion, and truth is motion; they cannot be trapped into a static state. You cannot trap running water in a bucket. The moment you capture it in a bucket, it is no longer RUNNING water, and thus you have lost the truth of it.

So Crowley is not going to give you any simple answers. Instead he gives you a puzzle because solving the puzzle is a process of motion, and if any truth is to be found, it will only be found in the process. This is also a trick in meditation. You sit quietly and calm you mind. People mistakenly think that this is so that you can capture some moment of enlightenment. But, once again, the truth is just the opposite. Mediation is a process, like running around a track. One must seek union of stillness and motion. As the Zen masters would say, to do without doing.

If there is any value in Crowley's book, it is in the nature of the way that it puts the mind to work. You might consider the fate of Sisyphus eternally pushing the rock up the hill. The point of the myth is in the absurdity of his fate. The Gods meant to punish Sisyphus, and from our perspective he does seem to be in hell. But Sisyphus is so engaged in his labors that he doesn't even notice the absurdity, or perhaps even revels in the absurdity. He is not miserable; he is engaged in his work. This is the secret of heaven: To engage the eternal absurdity with gusto. A mystical book should not take you to any place in particular, but should lead you in circles. For you, the book should play the role of the Gods who condemned Sisyphus to the eternal task. The supposed punishment is really your eternal reward; heaven and hell become one in the process of embracing of the Ultimate Meaning that is also the Ultimate Absurdity.

Answer 4

It is just book of lies lol

Answer 5

For reference only you need to get the translation books by Israel Regardie, he basically is the official translator of his books. Or go to www.rosicrucian.com or www.amorc.com they have reference books to his work for translations.