The Simon Iff tales are not all that good as mystery stories.
But Crowley first came up here because he was the prototype
of Guttman in THE MALTESE FALCON. He also figures prominently
as Mocata in Dennis Wheatley's novel, THE DEVIL RIDES OUT, as
Oliver Haddo in Somerset Maugham's THE MAGICIAN, and Colin
Wilson's THE SEX DIARY OF GERARD SORME. Crowley's books are
the mcguffin in Colin Wilson's THE SCHOOLGIRL MURDERS. And
Crowley, himself, appears in Robert Anton Wilson's THE MASKS
OF THE ILLUMANITI. He's mentioned prominantly in Umberto
Echo's FOUCAULT'S PENDULUM, which was an Italian take-off of
RA Wilson's THE ILLUMANITI TRILOGY, which also refers to
Crowley. And both of those previous books were boiled down
into Brown's DAVINCI CODE, which seems to me to owe much more
to both Wilsons, Echo and Crowley than it does to HOLY BLOOD
HOLY GRAIL, whose authors, Baigent, Leigh & Lincoln, sued
Brown over the use of their material. THE DAVINCI CODE gives
no credit to Crowley as Brown's research perhaps did not go
that far, but Crowley was writing about the Merovingian blood
line of Christ by 1923. HBHG does mention Crowley in
relationship to the Knights Templar and their lineage to
Crowley's Ordo Templi Orientis, the inmost secret of which is
supposed to be the blood distilled in the cup, meaning the
female descendent who carries on a sacred bloodline: DAVINCI
CODE symbolism. This symbolism is all over Crowley's Thoth
Tarot Deck and explained in exhaustive detail in his how-to
book, THE BOOK OF THOTH.
There is much speculation that Crowley was not at all what he
appeared to be, but a British Agent for MI5 before during and
after WWI. He certainly was an expert in cypher. He was
acquainted with TE Lawrence, and Ian Fleming, as a officer in
British Navel Intelligence, tried to employ Crowley during
WWII to interrogate Heinrich Himmler, the leader of the
Wauffen SS and, like Crowley, an expert in astrology, when
Himmler was taken prisoner by Great Britain.
I could go on. There are many links between Aleister Crowley
and hardboiled and noir fiction & non-fiction.
Patrick King
--- Don Lee <
donthepoet@yahoo.com> wrote:
> 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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> > >
> >
> >
> >
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> >
>
>
>
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