That's a good recap of Crowley! Although I can't think of too
many ways in which his world overlaps the world of Rara-Avis,
his Simon Iff stories were his attempt to breach the barrier,
though I haven't read them sufficiently to know how well he
succeeded...
Don
--- Patrick King <
abrasax93@yahoo.com> wrote:
> Crowley was deeply hated by the religious right
of
> the
> time, so they used the yellow press to
discredit
> him.
> He died in a respectable rooming house in London
at
> the age of 72 in 1947. He certainly was not
as
> wealthy
> as his book sales in the 1960s, 70s, & 80s
would
> have
> made him had he survived to see them all
reprinted
> in
> expensive editions, re-edited, and fought over.
But
> I
> don't think he was bone-crushingly poor at
his
> death.
> The treasury for his "Order" was under his bed,
so
> apparently he hadn't had to dip into it.
>
> As to Crowley's drug addiction, Crowely
developed
> asthma in his late 20s and in England at that
time
> they perscribed heroin to deal with the
problem.
> Heroin in England was treated in a
completely
> different way than it was in the US. It did not
have
> a
> stigma attached to it until the 1960 with
the
> Rolling
> Stones and their followers started using it. You
got
> a
> perscription for it and cashed it at the
local
> clinic.
> Crowley was addicted to heroin. He describes
kicking
> the drug in his Italian Diary from the late
1920s.
> As
> to whether he was ever able to really wein
himself
> fully is doubtful. He always had asthma and
heroin
> was
> really the only relief for it he found. But he
was
> not
> a shivering junkie lurking in doorways and
robbing
> handbags to get his fix. He was an old gentleman
who
> played chess in the afternoon, and met with
young
> people who were reading his books and exploring
the
> ideas he'd espoused since he was himself a boy
at
> Oxford.
>
> I've found his books very interesting if you can
see
> his metaphors for what they are. A lot of
his
> readers
> spend years of their lives running in circles
waving
> thier arms and waiting for something to happen.
With
> a
> little luck it doesn't and you get over it.
If
> you're
> unlucky, something does happen and you spend a
few
> more years running in circles. When reading
Crowley,
> it's important to see the humor and sarcasm,
irony
> and
> contempt for commonly held beliefs that runs
through
> his work. If one develops new beliefs based on
it,
> you're lost.
>
> He wrote a series of detective stories called
The
> Simon Iff Tales. He also wrote two brilliant
novels,
> MOONCHILD, which contains the best depiction of
the
> old mage, Simon Iff, and DIARY OF A DRUG
FIEND,
> which
> is a good description of his use of drugs and
his
> attempt to control their effects using
oriental
> forms
> of mind control.
>
> Patrick King
> --- Michael Robison <
miker_zspider@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> > Patrick King wrote:
> >
> > Apparently Miller fell out of favor with
Crowley
> > because he borrowed money from him and never
paid
> > him
> > back. That's a switch! Crowley, himself,
was
> > notorious
> > for borrowing money and not repaying
it.
> >
> > **************
> > I read Crowley's Confessions way back when,
and
> then
> > a
> > few years ago read a biography that explains a
lot
> > of
> > phrases he used in the book which were
really
> codes
> > for something far different.
> >
> > If I recall, Crowley died a nearly
impoverished
> drug
> > addict.
> >
> > miker
> >
> >
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