Aleister Crowley - Academic Overview

#Crowley #thelema #aleistercrowley

Who is Aleister Crowley and what is Thelema? Crowley's contribution to Western Esotericism, Wicca, Eclectic Witchcraft, Chaos Magick and more.

REFERENCES
Bogdan, H. & Starr, M.P. eds. (2012) Aleister Crowley and Western Esotericism. Oxford University Press.

00:00 Introduction: The Wickedest Man alive
01:39 A harbinger of modernity
03:06 The Book of the Law
04:02 Crowley’s early life
04:50 Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn
06:52 Thelema & The A∴A∴
07:51 The Ordo Templi Orientis
08:10 Travels and obscurity
09:59 Crowley’s legacy
13:41 Magick is for all
14:28 Support Angela’s Symposium

⚠️ Copyright of Dr Angela Puca, in all of its parts ⚠️

Music by Erose MusicBand. Check them out!

[rrrosecarbinela]

I'd be interested in a full coverage of Crowley. He certainly had a lot of influence.

[obsidianstang]

Looking very witchy today, love the look. Great video on Crowley.

[nobodythatyouknow]

with people today i always come back to your videos to educate myself thanks again!

[VhaidraSaga]

Your makeup and presentation are on point!

[jamesjones]

An objective, non-sensationalist, non-clickbait video about AC. Congratulations, you've made one of the best video's on this topic that I have ever seen.

[rkmh]

107th to like! Awesome lecture, thank you so much! I remember learning first about Crowely and the Do what thou wilt thing in Baptist Sunday School as part of a series on cults you are not supposed to join. The Sunday School teacher didn't like my questions and we never saw that teacher again. i really just wanted to know why what Crowely was saying about the divine will was different from St. Augustine or Paul for that matter. I didn't learn my lesson because i was expelled from Bible College for many reasons, but asking about Crowely didn't help. Much love!

[arnyarny]

I have his auto hagiography like from 30 years ago, he is not satanic at all .

[azcactusflower]

Dr. Puca monetary support is recommended. Amazing how much I can learn in 15 minutes. Such a great talent x

[johndavies]

Perfect!♥ A really good introduction to Aleister Crowley! This shows a wonderful understanding of the foundations of Crowley! There are countless complex (and often confusing) explanations of Crowley. This one is clear, understandable, and to the point, and it explains the foundations of who and what Crowley was to perfection!♥ Being able to make an unbelievably complex subject, clear and understandable takes more skill than simply regurgitating overwhelming complexity which only serves to confuse the listener! You explained more in 15 1/2 minutes than some people have in entire books!👍

[CJ-ufxl]

A few years back I went on a full journey of discovery about Crowley, I visited where he was born and all the places in the UK I knew to either have once belonged to him or that held his artifacts, read all of his works which were available at the time, I also managed to speak with some people who were close to his family (I will not elaborate on that as it was a private chat.)
I will say this about the man, he did a lot of good for the working class to get esoteric access even though he was far removed from them himself, he also was one of the first (not the first, being notorious has the effect of heightening ones profile) to openly talk about magic and theology other then in the Christian faith, and to spread knowledge of Yoga and Buddhist wisdom he also openly talked about sexuality and was openly promiscuous with both men and women.
All good stuff I'm sure, especially at a time when you could be imprisoned for it, but, most of the good that came from it was inadvertent, he used his knowledge to make a few quid. I know there's lots of nonsense about him (sacrificing babies, pedophilic stuff etc, etc.) But there are also solid facts about him, many of which paint a truly vile picture of the man, the guy did anything for money so he could get high, he treated people terribly, and in many cases used them as nothing more then slave's, his entire religion was based on worshipping him, I mean... Really?
I understand, there's a romantic version of Crowley which was born in the hippy period and really still persists to this day, that's cool, for me, I dislike the man and find many of his works daft for want of a better word, but will admit he was a very interesting character and inadvertent or not he has had a big influence on the esoteric world today, whether that's good or bad, well the proof is in the pudding.

[markwarrensprawson]

The guy was imperfect. He never pretended to be otherwise. But to hell with self-denial, I love the guy. Uncle Al has always meant a lot to me. Thank you so much for shining such a clear light on the man, the myth, the legend that he was and in many ways, remains today. And thank you for not dwelling on his association with Satan worship. The more Crowley one reads and understands, the less important the Christian devil becomes. I hope to see a day when this becomes common knowledge among spiritual seekers, even if said seekers after truth and penetration into the Mystery aren't particularly interested in Crowley's own work at all. It's enough to know that he had the guts to be who he was at the time he was at all. And I'll be damned if certain examples of his religious syncretism such as his book, I believe penned during the years Israel Regardie served as his secretary, "777", aren't absolutely amazing examples for their time, especially given the fact that the closest anyone had come before was Frazier with his "Golden Bough". You rock.

[joeyfive]

I’m looking forward to future videos on Thelema, a topic I’m trying my best to understand. If anyone has any book recommendations it’d be much appreciated (I’ve just ordered The Law of Thelema by Antti P Balk)

[DanKaraJordan]

It is important to note that the name Thelema is from Rabelais' book Gargantua and Pentagruel. In the book, the main character founds a utopic monestrary by the same name, whose only monastic rule was, of course, "Do what thou wilt, " and which represented a reunderstanding of how leisured liberty can produce the best minds, rather than the chastised, worker-drones and sensualist hypocrites that the Church produced. It is a satirical work of the highest order and an understanding of it seems necessary for an understanding of what Crowley was aiming for.

[palodineofficial]

this answers questions I have had and helps me understand Damien Echols viewpoints on this subject.
Many thanks!

[chrisetty]

Informative video. There is a book I don’t think you mentioned: Confessions. An auto hagiography. I think it’s out of print but we’ll worth a read if you can get it.

I’ll leave you with a titbit: Crowley & the author of the DevIl Rides ou, Dennis Wheatley actually arranged to met at one of the big London Hotels. The meeting took place but neither man committed what had happened to paper. They never met again.

[Grap_Sda]

Excellent video. The analysis of Crowley's contribution to modern discourse was especially interesting. Thanks as always

[markhatch]

Great video. Crowley is an interesting character that looms large for any Western contemporary occult/wiccan/magickal tradition. Once you realize what he's talking about, and trust me, you have to read, re-read, and then re-re-read his writings to figure most of it out (it started for me in an academic class), you begin to realize just what an influence he's had, mostly without any intention by, or attribution to, him. A lot of what he's saying is "coded" (like the chapter "On the bloody sacrifice" in M in T&P), or obfuscated but becomes clearer the more you read. His Confessions is honestly a great read, and contains many keys for his other work. When you then go look at published rituals for other groups (I'm looking clearly at Gardner et al), you can see where their rituals came from. And isn't Chaos Magick's Gnosis sex magick? Since any instruction I know includes that as a method of achieving it? And isn't where we've ended up but the manifestation of his emphasis on the individual in Western religion anyhow? Thanks so much and I'm looking forward to more on the subject. Excellent job as usual.

[atis]

I LOVE your eye shadow, a beautiful shade!

[charleskimbrell]

I was initiated into OTO in 1983. The big thing I learned was to practice magic like yoga. To paraphrase Crowley, do the ritual until you are dreaming it.

[johnwhite]

Thanks for everything you do, Doc.
I genuinely enjoy all of your material.
You look great! Please keep it up!