Crowley 101: weekly assignments

WEEK 1: Introduction

Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law

Welcome all.

Before diving into Uncle Al himself we will begin with an alternative view of the Great Beast:

http://www.mt.net/~watcher/crowleyalienlam.html

Do you think it most useful to consider Magickal critters as angels, bodhisattvas, Egyptian gods, demons, Secret Chiefs of the Illuminati, pookahs, archetypes of the unconscious, extraterrestrials, all of the above, none of the above?

Why?
Cuss and discuss….
-RAW


WEEK 2: Hunchback and Soldier

Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law.

Ponder DEEPLY the first 2 chapters of THE BOOK OF LIES

Chap 1 ‘the hunchback’ [?] represents doubt, uncertainty and search

Chap 2 ‘the soldier’ [!] represents insight, illumination, dis-covery

Do you think Crowley’s path leads to more and more hunchbacks [? ? ? ? ? ? ? etc]

or to more and more soldiers [! ! ! ! ! etc]

or to an accelerating dialectic of hunchbacks and soldiers [? ! ? ! ? ! ? ! ? !?!? etc]

Cuss and discuss

For those who want more work, why does Crowley’s CONFESSIONS contain 96 chapters, 3 in the third person and 93 in the first?

We just added a Crowely Tarot reading to the site. We’ll focus more on tarot and The Book of Thoth later on, but for now just get acquainted with the cards and use the readings as you see fit.

Love is the law, love under will


WEEK 3: Agnostic Gnosticism

DO WHAT THOU WILT SHALL BE THE WHOLE OF THE LAW

Can we learn to live with both the soldier and the hunchback or must we try to banish one of them?

Read Book of Lies Chapters 1-23

Why does Chapter 23 reveal more about the Tarot than the first 22 chapters keyed to the Tarot Trumps?

Why does 23 play such a key role?

What does Hexagram 23 in I CHING mean?

Read Innerview [this?]

and

Kennedy Bloodline [unknown]

Exercise: for the next 5 weeks try writing all posts for this class without ever using the verb “is.”

Try to decide why I consider this exercize very important.

LOVE IS THE LAW, LOVE UNDER WILL


WEEK 4: Do What Thou Wilt

DO WHAT THOU WILT SHALL BE THE WHOLE OF THE LAW

All previous Teachers have taught “Do what I wilt” and slaves rushed forward to obey, crying “We are saved!’ Perdurabo told each of us “Do what thou wilt” and mosbunall fled screaming “Monster! Cannibal! Corruptor of youth! ” Do you see something remarkable in this?

Course Text Reading: Book of Lies Chapters 24-44

Additional Reading: Great Beast & T.S.O.G.

Discussion Topic 1: What did Wilhelm Reich consider the origin of Fascism?

Discussion Topic 2: list at least 10 parallels between Russian Tsarism, German Fascism and Geo W Bush’s “neo-conservatism”

Discussion Topic 3: If you’ve followed the Ashley Smith saga, comment and argufy, especially about the role of Christianity in the case.

Exercize: continue : for the next 4 weeks try writing all posts for this class without ever using the verb “is.” Try to decide why I consider this exercize very important.

[optional]

Read part one of THE WIDOW’S SON and try to keep track of the soldiers and hunchbacks


WEEK 5: Shall Be

Overview: In the mid-1970s a San Francisco press, now defunct, began printing Thelemic books bearing the mantra: Do what thou wilt is the whole of the law.

Caliph Hymeneus Alpha protested vigorously and threatened a law suit. arguing that the “correct” version reads DO WHAT THOU WILT SHALL BE THE WHOLE OF THE LAW

Cuss and discuss.

Course Text Readings: Book of Lies Chapter 51

Additional Readings:

Liber 77

http://www.official-lamp.org [dead site]

OPTIONAL: Read discussions of the 22 Tarot trumps in BOOK OF THOTH and discuss light this sheds on the more mind-bending paradoxes of THE BOOK OF LIES

Discussion Topic 1: Why did Washington and Adams consider the Second amendment vital?

Discussion Topic 2: I once called Crowley, with deliberate oxymoron, an anarcho-fascist. Which side do you think dominates his works?

Exercize: continue : for the next 4 weeks try writing all posts for this class without ever using the verb “is.”
Continue to try to decide why I consider this exercize very important.

Additional: [optional] Read part two of THE WIDOW’S SON [the tower] and continue to keep track of the soldiers and hunchbacks.

Have some of the soldiers mysteriously turned into hunchbacks???!!!


Week 6: HOW LONG,O LORD, HOW LONG?

WHEN will “Do what thou wilt” become the whole of the law?

How many centuries more into the aeon of Horus?

Or–could it prove only decades?!?!

Course Text Readings:

Book of Thoth: wands
Book of lies; Chapters 69, 70

Online Reading: the molecular biology of paradise

http://www.paradise-engineering.com/
http://www.medboardwatch.com/

Discussion Topic 1: continue practise in writing e-prime instead of English by talking about the death of the pope Discussion Topic 2:

To what “eye” does Crowley refer in BOL Chapter 70 paragraph 6?
WEEK 7: Black Magick & Curses
Crowley defined magick as the art of “causing change by act of will.”
His pupil Violet Wirth [a.k.a Dion Fortune] defined magick as the art of “causing change in consciousness by act of will.”
Did one of them over-simplify for the sake of slow learners?
Can you synthesize them?

Course Text Readings:

Book of Thoth: swords

Book of Lies: balance of book

Online Reading: black magick and curses

PARABLE

An American student asked a Zen roshi, “What happens after death?”
“I don’t know,” said the roshi.
“But you’re a Zen Master!” the student cried.
“Yes, but I’m not a dead Zen master.”

Discussion Topic 1: continue practise in writing e-prime instead of English. by talking about the 2.3 million AIDS deaths in Africa, partiallY caused by the pope’s opposition to condoms

Discussion Topic 2: Name the Great magician who makes the sky blue?

Discussion Topic 3: Name the Teacher more trustworthy than Crowley or RAW?

Optional

Read book 3 “The Living One” in THE WIDOW’S SON


WEEK 8: Open

This week YOU determine the navigation.

Post questions in the Week 8 Forum and I will answer as many of them as possible!

& don’t forget the Chat Room on Tuesday night!

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