Do What Thou Wilt Quotes

“To comprehend Crowley, one must comprehend what he meant by "Magick"—the "discredited" tradition he swore to "rehabilitate."

Magick, for Crowley, is a way of life that takes in every facet of life. The keys to attainment within the magical tradition lie in the proper training of the human psyche itself—more specifically, in the development of the powers of will and imagination. The training of the will—which Crowley so stressed, thus placing himself squarely within that tradition—is the focusing of one's energy, one's essential being. The imagination provides, as it were, the target for this focus, by its capacity to ardently envision—and hence bring into magical being—possibilities and states beyond those of consensual reality. The will and imagination must work synergistically. For the will, unilluminated by imagination, becomes a barren tool of earthly pursuits. And the imagination, ungoverned by a striving will, lapses into idle dreams and stupor.”
― Lawrence Sutin, Do What Thou Wilt: A Life of Aleister Crowley

“The real inferiority of women to men is shown by their hate of paederasty, which they regard as unfair competition. Men on the other hand rather approve of Sapphism, as saving them trouble & expense.
—Aleister Crowley. 1929-03-09 diary entry.”
― Lawrence Sutin, Do What Thou Wilt: A Life of Aleister Crowley

“To Laver, Crowley insisted upon magic as "something we do to ourselves," a rational use of one's mental capacities: "It is more convenient to assume the objective existence of an Angel who gives us new knowledge than to allege that our invocation has awakened a supernatural power in ourselves.”
― Lawrence Sutin, Do What Thou Wilt: A Life of Aleister Crowley

“Crowley—the universe reflects the self and the self the universe, an infinite chain of myriad changes that the magus alone can encompass. As”
― Lawrence Sutin, Do What Thou Wilt: A Life of Aleister Crowley