The Franklin Files

Omega · Guru

RE: The Thule Society II

Omega · Guru

From: "Blue Resonant Human"
Originally to: iufo@xbn.shore.net
Original Date: Tue, 28 May 1996 06:10:11 GMT

Introduction to Magick
Excerpted from Magick in Theory and Practice
by Aleister Crowley

"Magick is the Highest, most Absolute, and most Divine Knowledge
of Natural Philosophy; advanced in its works and wonderful
operations by a right understanding of the inward and occult
virtue of things; so that true Agents being applied to proper
Patients, strange and admirable effects will thereby be produced.
Whence magicians are profound and diligent searchers into
Nature; they, because of their skill, know how to anticipate an
effect, the which to the vulgar shall seem to be a miracle."
-The Goetia of the Lemegeton of King Solomon

"Whenever sympathetic magic occurs in its pure unadulterated
form, it is assumed that in nature one event follows another
necessarily and invariably without the intervention of any
spiritual or personal agency. Thus its fundamental conception is
identical with that of modern science; underlying the whole
system is a faith, implicit but real and firm, in the order and
uniformity of nature. The magician does not doubt that the same
causes will always produce the same effects, that the
performance of the proper ceremony accompanied by the
appropriate spell, will inevitably be attended by the desired
results, unless, indeed, his incantations should chance to be
thwarted and foiled by the more potent charms of another
sorcerer. He supplicates no higher power: he sues the favour of
no fickle and wayward being: he abases himself before no awful
deity. Yet his power, great as he believes it to be, is by no
means arbitrary and unlimited. He can wield it only so long as
he strictly conforms to the rules of his art, or to what may be
called the laws of nature as conceived by him. To neglect these
rules, to break these laws in the smallest particular is to
incur failure, and may even expose the unskillful practitioner
himself to the utmost peril. If he claims a sovereignty over
nature, it is a constitutional sovereignty rigorously limited in
its scope and exercised in exact conformity with ancient usage.
Thus the analogy between the magical and the scientific
conceptions of the world is close. In both of them the
succession of events is perfectly regular and certain, being
determined by immutable laws, the operation of which can be
foreseen and calculated precisely; the elements of caprice, of
chance, and of accident are banished from the course of nature.
Both of them open up a seemingly boundless vista of
possibilities to him who knows the causes of things and can
touch the secret springs that set in motion the vast and
intricate mechanism of the world. Hence the strong attraction
which magic and science alike have exercised on the human mind;
hence the powerful stimulus that both have given to the pursuit
of knowledge. They lure the weary enquirer, the footsore seeker,
on through the wilderness of disappointment in the present by
their endless promises of the future: they take him up to the
top of an exceeding high mountain and shew him, beyond the dark
clouds and rolling mist at his feet, a vision of the celestial
city, far off, it may be, but radiant with unearthly splendour,
bathed in the light of dreams."
-Dr. J. G. FRAZER, "The Golden Bough"

"So far, therefore, as the public profession of magic has been
one of the roads by which men have passed to supreme power, it
has contributed to emancipate mankind from the thraldom of
tradition and to elevate them into a larger, freer life, with a
broader outlook on the world. This is no small service rendered
to humanity. And when we remember further that in another
direction magic has paved the way for science, we are forced to
admit that if the black arts has done much evil, it has also
been the source of much good; that if it is the child of error,
it has been the mother of freedom and truth."
-Ibid.

"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good".
-St. Paul.

"Also the mantras and the spells; the obeah and the wanga; the
work of the wand and the work of the sword: these he shall learn
and teach.

"He must teach; but he may make severe the ordeals.

"The word of the Law is THELEMA."

LIBER AL vel xxxi: The Book of the Law.

This book is for ALL: for every man, woman, and child.

My former work has been misunderstood, and its scope limited,
by my use of technical terms. It has attracted only too many
dilettanti and eccentrics, weaklings seeking in "Magic" an
escape from reality. I myself was first consciously drawn to
the subject in this way. And it has repelled only too many
scientific and practical minds, such as I most designed to
influence. But MAGICK is for ALL.

I have written this book to help the Banker, the Pugilist, the
Biologist, the Poet, the Navvy, the Grocer, the Factory Girl,
the Mathematician, the Stenographer, the Golfer, the Wife, the
Consul--and all the rest--to fulfil themselves perfectly, each
in his or her own proper function.

Let me explain in a few words how it came about that I blazoned
the word MAGICK upon the Banner that I have borne before me all
my life.

Before I touched my teens, I was already aware that I was The
Beast whose number is 666. I did not understand in the least
what that implied; it was a passionately ecstatic sense of
identity.

In my third year at Cambridge, I devoted myself consciously to
the Great Work, understanding thereby the Work of becoming a
Spiritual Being, free from the constraints, accidents, and
deceptions of material existence.

I found myself at a loss for a name to designate my work, just
as H.P. Blavatsky some years earlier. "Theosophy", "Spiritualism",
"Occultism", "Mysticism", all involved undesirable connotations.

I chose therefore the name "MAGICK" as essentially the most
sublime, and actually the most discredited, of all the available
terms.

I swore to rehabilitate MAGICK, to identify it with my own
career; and to compel mankind to respect, love, and trust that
which they scorned, hated and feared. I have kept my Word.

But the time is now come for me to carry my banner into the
thick of the press of human life.

I must make MAGICK the essential factor in the life of ALL.

In presenting this book to the world, I must then explain and
justify my position by formulating a definition of MAGICK and
setting forth its main principles in such a way that ALL may
understand instantly that their souls, their lives, in every
relation with every other human being and every circumstance,
depend upon MAGICK and the right comprehension and right
application thereof.

I. DEFINITION.

MAGICK is the Science and Art of causing Change to occur in
conformity with Will.

Illustration: It is my Will to inform the World of certain facts
within my knowledge. I therefore take "magical weapons", pen,
ink, and paper; I write "incantations" --these sentences-- in
the "magical language" i.e. that which is understood by the

Continues in the next message -->

Omega · Guru

From: "Blue Resonant Human"
Originally to: iufo@xbn.shore.net
Original Date: Tue, 28 May 1996 06:10:11 GMT

* Continuation from previous message....

people I wish to instruct; I call forth "spirits", such as
printers, publishers, booksellers, and so forth, and constrain
them to convey my message to those people. The composition and
distribution of this book is thus an act of MAGICK by which I
cause Changes to take place in conformity with my Will.

II. POSTULATE.

ANY required Change may be effected by the application of the
proper kind and degree of Force in the proper manner through the
proper medium to the proper object.

Illustration: I wish to prepare an ounce of Chloride of Gold.
I must take the right kind of acid, nitro-hydrochloric and no
other, in sufficient quantity and of adequate strength, and
place it, in a vessel which will not break, leak, or corrode, in
such a manner as will not produce undesirable results, with the
necessary quantity of Gold: and so forth. Every Change has its
own conditions.

In the present state of our knowledge and power some changes
are not possible in practice; we cannot cause eclipses, for
instance, or transform lead into tin, or create men from
mushrooms. But it is theoretically possible to cause in any
object any change of which that object is capable by nature;
and the conditions are covered by the above postulate.)

III. THEOREMS.

(1) Every intentional act is a Magical Act.

(Illustration: See "Definition" above.)

(2) Every successful act has conformed to the postulate.

(3) Every failure proves that one or more requirements of the
postulate have not been fulfilled.

(Illustrations: There may be failure to understand the case; as
when a doctor makes a wrong diagnosis, and his treatment injures
his patient. There may be failure to apply the right kind of
force, as when a rustic tries to blow out an electric light.
There may be failure to apply the right degree of force, as when
a wrestler has his hold broken. There may be failure to apply
the force in the right manner, as when one presents a cheque at
the wrong window of the Bank. There may be failure to employ the
correct medium, as when Leonardo da Vinci found his masterpiece
fade away. The force may be applied to an unsuitable object, as
when one tries to crack a stone, thinking it a nut.)

(4) The first requisite for causing any change is thorough
qualitative and quantitative understanding of the conditions.

(Illustration: The most common cause of failure in life is
ignorance of one's own True Will, or of the means by which to
fulfil that Will. A man may fancy himself a painter, and waste
his life trying to become one; or he may be really a painter,
and yet fail to understand and to measure the difficulties
peculiar to that carrier.)

(5) The second requisite of causing any change is the practical
ability to set in right motion the necessary forces.

(Illustration: A banker may have a perfect grasp of a given
situation, yet lack the quality of decision, or the assets,
necessary to take advantage of it.)

(6) "Every man and every woman is a star". That is to say,
every human being is intrinsically an independent individual
with his own proper character and proper motion.

(7) Every man and every woman has a course, depending partly on
the self, and partly on the environment which is natural and
necessary for each. Anyone who is forced from his own course,
either through not understanding himself, or through external
opposition, comes into conflict with the order of the Universe,
and suffers accordingly.

(Illustration: A man may think it his duty to act in a certain
way, through having made a fancy picture of himself, instead of
investigating his actual nature. For example, a woman may make
herself miserable for life by thinking that she prefers love to
social consideration, or visa versa. One woman may stay with an
unsympathetic husband when she would really be happy in an attic
with a lover, while another may fool herself into a romantic
elopement when her only true pleasures are those of presiding at
fashionable functions. Again, a boy's instinct may tell him to
go to sea, while his parents insist on his becoming a doctor.
In such a case, he will be both unsuccessful and unhappy in
medicine.)

(8) A man whose conscious will is at odds with his True Will is
wasting his strength. He cannot hope to influence his environment
efficiently.

(Illustration: When Civil War rages in a nation, it is in no
condition to undertake the invasion of other countries. A man
with cancer employs his nourishment alike to his own use and to
that of the enemy which is a part of himself. He soon fails to
resist the pressure of his environment. In practical life, a man
who is doing what his conscience tells him to be wrong will do
it very clumsily. At first!)

(9) A man who is doing his True Will has the inertia of the
Universe to assist him.

(Illustration: The first principle of success in evolution is
that the individual should be true to his own nature, and at the
same time adapt himself to his environment.)

(10) Nature is a continuous phenomenon, though we do not know in
all cases how things are connected.

(Illustration: Human consciousness depends on the properties of
protoplasm, the existence of which depends on innumerable
physical conditions peculiar to this planet; and this planet is
determined by the mechanical balance of the whole universe of
matter. We may then say that our consciousness is causally
connected with the remotest galaxies; yet we do not know even
how it arises from--or with--the molecular changes in the brain.)

(11) Science enables us to take advantage of the continuity of
Nature by the empirical application of certain principles whose
interplay involves different orders of idea connected with each
other in a way beyond our present comprehension.

(Illustration: We are able to light cities by rule-of-thumb
methods. We do not know what consciousness is, or how it is
connected with muscular action; what electricity is or how it is
connected with the machines that generate it; and our methods
depend on calculation involving mathematical ideas which have no
correspondence in the Universe as we know it.)

(12) Man is ignorant of the nature of his own being and powers.
Even his idea of his limitations is based on experience of the
past, and every step in his progress extends his empire. There
is therefore no reason to assign theoretical limits to what he
may be, or to what he may do.

(Illustration: A generation ago it was supposed theoretically
impossible that man should ever know the chemical composition of
the fixed stars. It is known that our senses are adapted to
receive only an infinitesimal fraction of the possible rates of
vibration. Modern instruments have enabled us to detect some of
these suprasensibles by indirect methods, and even to use their
peculiar qualities in the service of man, as in the case of the
rays of Hertz and Rontgen. As Tyndall said, man might at any

Continues in the next message -->

Omega · Guru

From: "Blue Resonant Human"
Originally to: iufo@xbn.shore.net
Original Date: Tue, 28 May 1996 06:10:11 GMT

* Continuation from previous message....

moment learn to perceive and utilise vibrations of all
conceivable and inconceivable kinds. The question of Magick is
a question of discovering and employing hitherto unknown forces
in nature. We know that they exist, and we cannot doubt the
possibility of mental or physical instruments capable of
bringing us into relation with them.)

(13) Every man is more or less aware that his individuality
comprises several orders of existence, even when he maintains
that his subtler principles are merely symptomatic of the
changes in his gross vehicle. A similar order may be assumed
to extend throughout nature.

(Illustration: One does not confuse the pain of toothache with
the decay which causes it. Inanimate objects are sensitive to
certain physical forces, such as electrical and thermal
conductivity; but neither in us nor in them--so far as we know--
is there any direct conscious perception of these forces.
Imperceptible influences are therefore associated with all
material phenomena; and there is no reason why we should not
work upon matter through those subtle energies as we do through
their material bases. In fact, we use magnetic force to move
iron, and solar radiation to reproduce images.)

(14) Man is capable of being, and using, anything which he
perceives, for everything that he perceives is in a certain
sense a part of his being. He may thus subjugate the whole
Universe of which he is conscious to his individual Will.

(Illustration: Man has used the idea of God to dictate his
personal conduct, to obtain power over his fellows, to excuse
his crimes, and for innumerable other purposes, including that
of realizing himself as God. He has used the irrational and
unreal conceptions of mathematics to help him in the construction
of mechanical devices. He has used his moral force to influence
the actions even of wild animals. He has employed poetic genius
for political purposes.)

(15) Every force in the Universe is capable of being transformed
into any other kind of force by using suitable means. There is
thus an inexhaustible supply of any particular kind of force
that we may need.

(Illustration: Heat may be transformed into light and power by
using it to drive dynamos. The vibrations of the air may be used
to kill men by so ordering them in speech as to inflame war-like
passions. The hallucinations connected with the mysterious
energies of sex result in the perpetuation of the species.)

(16) The application of any given force affects all the orders
of being which exist in the object to which it is applied,
whichever of those orders is directly affected.

(Illustration: If I strike a man with a dagger, his consciousness,
not his body only, is affected by my act; although the dagger, as
such, has no direct relation therewith. Similarly, the power of my
thought may so work on the mind of another person as to produce
far-reaching physical changes in him, or in others through him.)

(17) A man may learn to use any force so as to serve any
purpose, by taking advantage of the above theorems.

(Illustration: A man may use a razor to make himself vigilant
over his speech, by using it to cut himself whenever he
unguardedly utters a chosen word. He may serve the same purpose
by resolving that every incident of his life shall remind him of
a particular thing, making every impression the starting point
of a connected series of thoughts ending in that thing. He might
also devote his whole energies to some one particular object, by
resolving to do nothing at variance therewith, and to make every
act turn to the advantage of that object.)

(18) He may attract to himself any force of the Universe by
making himself a fit receptacle for it, establishing a
connection with it, and arranging conditions so that its nature
compels it to flow toward him.

(Illustration: If I want pure water to drink, I dig a well in
a place where there is underground water; I prevent it from
leaking away; and I arrange to take advantage of water's
accordance with the laws of Hydrostatics to fill it.)

(19) Man's sense of himself as separate from, and opposed to,
the Universe is a bar to his conducting its currents. It
insulates him.

(Illustration: A popular leader is most successful when he
forgets himself, and remembers only "The Cause". Self-seeking
engenders jealousies and schism. When the organs of the body
assert their presence otherwise than by silent satisfaction, it
is a sign that they are diseased. The single exception is the
organ of reproduction. Yet even in this case its self-assertion
bears witness to its dissatisfaction with itself, since it
cannot fulfil its function until completed by its counterpart
in another organism.)

(20) Man can only attract and employ the forces for which he is
really fitted.

(Illustration: You cannot make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.
A true man of science learns from every phenomenon. But Nature
is dumb to the hypocrite; for in her there is nothing false.)

(21) There is no limit to the extent of the relations of any man
with the Universe in essence; for as soon as man makes himself
one with any idea the means of measurement cease to exist. But
his power to utilize that force is limited by his mental power
and capacity, and by the circumstances of his human environment.

(Illustration: When a man falls in love, the whole world
becomes, to him, nothing but love boundless and immanent; but
his mystical state is not contagious; his fellow-men are either
amused or annoyed. He can only extend to others the effect which
his love has had upon himself by means of his mental and
physical qualities. Thus, Catullus, Dante and Swinburne made
their love a mighty mover of mankind by virtue of their power to
put their thoughts on the subject in musical and eloquent
language. Again, Cleopatra and other people in authority moulded
the fortunes of many other people by allowing love to influence
their political actions. The Magician, however well he succeed
in making contact with the secret sources of energy in nature,
can only use them to the extent permitted by his intellectual
and moral qualities. Mohammed's intercourse with Gabriel was
only effective because of his statesmanship, soldiership, and
the sublimity of his command of Arabic. Hertz's discovery of the
rays which we now use for wireless telepathy was sterile until
reflected through the minds and wills of people who could take
his truth, and transmit it to the world of action by means of
mechanical and economic instruments.)

(22) Every individual is essentially sufficient to himself. But
he is unsatisfactory to himself until he has established himself
in his right relation with the Universe.

(Illustration: A microscope, however perfect, is useless in the
hands of savages. A poet, however sublime, must impose himself
upon his generation if he is to enjoy (and even understand)

Continues in the next message -->

Omega · Guru

From: "Blue Resonant Human"
Originally to: iufo@xbn.shore.net
Original Date: Tue, 28 May 1996 06:10:11 GMT

* Continuation from previous message....

himself, as theoretically should be the case.)

(23) Magick is the Science of understanding oneself and one's
conditions. It is the Art of applying that understanding in
action.

(Illustration: A golf club is intended to move a special ball in
a special way in special circumstances. A Niblick should rarely
be used on the tee, or a Brassie under the bank of a bunker. But
also, the use of any club demands skill and experience.)

(24) Every man has an indefeasible right to be what he is.

(Illustration: To insist that any one else shall comply with
one's own standards is to outrage, not only him, but oneself,
since both parties are equally born of necessity.)

(25) Every man must do Magick each time he acts or even thinks,
since a thought is an internal act whose influence ultimately
affects action, though it may not do so at the time.

(Illustration: The least gesture causes in a man's own body and
in the air around him; it disturbs the balance of the entire
Universe, and its effects continue eternally throughout all
space. Every thought, however swiftly suppressed, has its effect
on the mind. It stands as one of the causes of every subsequent
thought, and tends to influence every subsequent action. A
golfer may lose a few yards on his drive, a few more with his
second and third, he may lie on the green six bare inches too
far from the hole; but the net result of these trifling mishaps
is the difference of a whole stroke, and so probably between
halving and losing the hole.)

(26) Every man has a right, the right of self-preservation, to
fulfil himself to the utmost.

(Illustration: A function imperfectly performed injures, not
only itself, but everything associated with it. If the heart is
afraid to beat for fear of disturbing the liver, the liver is
starved for blood, and avenges itself on the heart by upsetting
digestion, which disorders respiration, on which cardiac welfare
depends.)

(27) Every man should make Magick the keynote of his life. He
should learn its laws and live by them.

(Illustration: The Banker should discover the real meaning of
his existence, the real motive which led him to choose that
profession. He should understand banking as a necessary factor
in the economic existence of mankind, instead of as merely a
business whose objects are independent of the general welfare.
He should learn to distinguish false values from real, and to
act not on accidental fluctuations but on considerations of
essential importance. Such a banker will prove himself superior
to others; because he will not be an individual limited by
transitory things, but a force of Nature, as impersonal,
impartial and eternal as gravitation, as patient and
irresistible as the tides. His system will not be subject to
panic, any more than the law of Inverse Squares is disturbed by
Elections. He will not be anxious about his affairs because they
will not be his; and for that reason he will be able to direct
them with the calm, clear-headed confidence of an onlooker, with
intelligence unclouded by self-interest and power unimpaired by
passion.)

(28) Every man has a right to fulfil his own will without being
afraid that it may interfere with that of others; for if he is
in his proper place, it is the fault of others if they interfere
with him.

(Illustration: If a man like Napoleon were actually appointed by
destiny to control Europe, he should not be blamed for
exercising his rights. To oppose him would be an error. Any one
so doing would have made a mistake as to his own destiny, except
in so far as it might be necessary for him to learn the lessons
of defeat. The sun moves in space without interference. The
order of Nature provides an orbit for each star. A clash proves
that one or the other has strayed from its course. But as to
each man that keeps his true course, the more firmly he acts,
the less likely are others to get in his way. His example will
help them to find their own paths and pursue them. Every man
that becomes a Magician helps others to do likewise. The more
firmly and surely men move, and the more such action is excepted
as the standard of morality, the less will conflict and
confusion hamper humanity.)

I hope that the above principles will demonstrate to ALL that
their welfare, their very existence, is bound up in MAGICK.

I trust that they will understand, not only the reasonableness,
but the necessity of the fundamental truth which I was the means
of giving to mankind:

"Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law."

I trust that they will assert themselves as individually
absolute, that they will grasp the fact that it is their right
to assert themselves, and to accomplish the task for which their
nature fits them. Yea, more, that this is their duty, and that
not only to themselves but to others, a duty founded upon
universal necessity, and not to be shirked on account of any
casual circumstances of the moment which may seem to put such
contact in the light of inconvenience or even of cruelty.

I hope that the principles outlined above will help them to
understand this book, and prevent them from being deterred from
its study by the more or less technical language in which it is
written.

The essence of MAGICK is simple enough in all conscience. It is
not otherwise with the art of government. The Aim is simply
prosperity; but the theory is tangled, and the practice beset
with briars.

In the same way MAGICK is merely to be and to do. I should add:
"to suffer". For Magick is the verb; and it is part of the
Training to use the passive voice. This is, however, a matter of
Initiation rather than of Magick in its ordinary sense. It is
not my fault if being is baffling, and doing desperate!

Yet, once the above principles are firmly fixed in the mind, it
is easy enough to sum up the situation very shortly. One must
find out for oneself, and make sure beyond doubt, WHO one is,
WHAT one is, WHY one is. This done, one may put the Will which
is implicit in the "Why" into words, or rather into One Word.
Being thus conscious of the proper course to pursue, the next
thing is to understand the conditions necessary to following it
out. After that, one must eliminate from oneself every element
alien or hostile to success, and develop those parts of oneself
which are specially needed to control the aforesaid conditions.

Let us make an analogy. A nation must become aware of its own
character before it can be said to exist. From that knowledge it
must divine its destiny. It must then consider the political
conditions of the world; how other countries may help it or
hinder it. It must then destroy in itself any elements
discordant with its destiny. Lastly, it must develop in itself
those qualities which will enable it to combat successfully the
external conditions which threaten to oppose its purpose. We
have had a recent example in the case of the young German

Continues in the next message -->