Darkly Splendid Abodes

The Book of the Law proclaims: “Also reason is a lie; for there is a factor infinite & unknown”. What is this “infinite & unknown” factor? And how does it undermine the faculty of reason? Edward Maso…

As we bring Season 3 to a close, Michael and I will once again reflect on our favourite episodes, as well as what we foresee for Season 4, in what’s fast become the least-listened-to episode of every…

Divination can be a means of obtaining guidance from forces beyond oneself. But even if one chooses the psychological model of the Universe, it can suggest insights not readily available to the consc…

Warnings about the dangers of Magick practice, and the preference for the apparently safer path of Mysticism, were as present in Crowley’s day as any other. We’ll take a deep-dive into Crowley’s rebu…

In 1916 era vulgaris, Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung channeled what would become known as The Red Book. The visions captured in this book culminate in the appended Seven Sermons to the Dead. Edward Mas…

In 8 Lectures on Yoga, Aleister Crowley attempts to pare away the gaudy veneer, and dispel the fog of superstition, that commonly obscures the fundamental practices of Yoga. We’ll pick up where we le…

Often Crowley speaks of his different Magical Mottos as though he’s referring to different individual people, from Frater Perdurabo to V.V.V.V.V., even distinguishing his mundane self as “the man Cro…

In Magick Without Tears, Aleister Crowley talks about The Three Schools of Magick, which seem to be differing philosophical perspectives on the Universe. But they also seem to represent three faction…

Ascended Masters? Discarnate beings? Living people hidden amongst the crowds? Crowley makes frequent reference to the Secret Chiefs, and their purported guidance of humanity by various means. Edward …

Aleister Crowley took an ancient Rite of Exorcism and repurposed it as an Invocation of one’s Holy Guardian Angel. The resulting small book, Liber Samekh, also contains elucidating commentary on the …

Patricia Crowther is hailed as one of the mothers of modern Witchcraft. Initiated by Gerald Gardner and taking the Craft Name of “Thelema,” she went on to be a key promoter of Wicca and defender of t…

In the system of Thelema, the Black Brotherhood and the Left-Hand Path are technical terms with specific connotations. But it’s not uncommon for people to run fast and loose with these terms, flingin…

Michael and I look back at our discussions this season: Crowley’s Introduction to the Book of the Law, Liber Reguli: the Ritual of the Mark of the Beast, & CommentaryFrater Achad’s Liber 31, Chapter …

The Star Sapphire is Aleister Crowley’s spin on the Hexagram Ritual of the Golden Dawn. First appearing in his little book of meditations entitled The Book of Lies, Falsely so-called, it joins The St…

Rosaleen Norton was an Australian artist who revelled in her public image as the Witch of King’s Cross. But behind this public persona was a deep and serious practitioner of Magick and mysticism. Ros…

The Book of the Law made the bold claim that there was "one to come" after Aleister Crowley who would "discover the key of it all." When Charles Stansfeld Jones (aka Frater Achad) discovered the keyw…