Theos-Talk Archives (January 1999 Message tt00073)

>I'm not swayed by Crowley on any point of personal power or magickal
>abilities - but rather the life, the spiritual qualities he writes about
>(especially in Temple of Solomon the King). His theorys and views on
>spiritual and material, and the methods of union seem to be different from
>Theosophy. And I get pulled this way and that way with my thoughts on which
>one to learn from.
>

As a practicing magician of sorts, I am indeed swayed by his magical
abilities, which were enormous.  He also had a rather large ego.

I have condensed the difference between his OTO and modern Theosophy
in terms of currents as follows: The OTO current is masculine, hard, dry,
serious, and dangerous but can be very rewarding.  The Theosophical
current is feminine, soft, cautionary, and slow but safe.  I am convinced
by my own study and practice of both that the two currents are complementary
rather than oppositional.


>I like(d) theosophy a lot. I thought I had found the teaching which
>resonated inside. It 'sempt relaxed (I mean the living) without the
>struggle - a bit like Christianity. But suddenly my view gets distracted
>back to Thelema.
>

One way to view the two is to look at Theosophy as the theoretical
background and magic (Thelema or any other) as a practical application
(this idea is from Dion Fortune).

>I find it hard to really pinpoint the problem. But there seems to be
>something missing from the people of Theosophy. It might just be those on
>the list (apart from a few exceptions) who show a dryness and lack sparkle.

Most are "stuck" in mentation which does tent toward dryness.  Spirit
is a living thing that you get from inner experience, not from reading.


>Some have great knowledge and giant intellects, but I cannot see the real
>life. I ask for help, not once but several times, and non is forthcoming. I
>wasn't asking the group to chew my cud, in the words of Leon. I was asking
>because I thought the people cared and wanted to help in the practicle
>aspect's, not merely doctrine. For example, I wished everyone a happy
>christmas, but not one kind remark was return.

You will probably have to take the tack that I have used and not expect
any reward or kind returns, but just do what is in your heart anyway.
I have come to see that Theosophists are just a bunch of people
much like any other and the same dynamics have to be applied.


>Theosophy seems to encompass a lot of christian morals. As Crowley said,
The
>word of sin is restriction. And I don't want to be bound up again as it
gets
>to painful when you fall.
>

Here I have to agree with you.  Crowley, who is considered a Black
Magican of the worst kind by most all Theosophists, was right when
he said that the only real sin is restriction.  The idea of sin comes
from the concept of good and evil, a concept that originates from
the archetypal Shadow.  There are very few people who have faced
this problem successfully.


>I had considered joining the O.T.O or A.A. before I came across theosophy.
>Then I scrapped the O.T.O. and read HPB. And over the past few months I
have
>heard on this list our ritual magick is part of the left hand path and that
>Crowley was so-called evil. This brought back the division and the pain of
>which one (if any) show'd and practiced what I needed.
>

You sound a like like me here.  I almost joined the OTO too. In fact, I
only rejected the idea after they told me that I was not allowed to join
any group that didn't accept Thelema, and thus if I joined I would
have to quit the TS.  Since I really do not like to be told what I can
and can't do, I never joined. But I am currently writing a column for
an OTO journal, and I embrace a lot of what they teach.


>I hope you can read between the lines and entangle what I've read and what
I
>am trying to say. Some times I just want to hold the magickal sword, shout
>and die: because always swapping, changing and falling is the hardest part,
>the sharpest pain.
>
>Al


Well, although you will take a lot of flaming from folks on this list, (Oh
well,
I get a lot of flames from magical lists too) I have found that it is
possible
to hold a Sword and still respect HPB and her message (a lot like Chuck,
who is a practicing Chaos Magician and Theosophist).

Jerry S.