A REFUTATION OF "BLACK MAGIC: A DEFINITION" By Mr. Oliver Haddo, RMNews Agent:
Given the extreme spiritual darkness which characterizes this age, I suppose I shouldn’t be too surprised that a man who styled himself “The Beast, 666” [Therion being the Greek word for beast] should be considered an authority on anything, let alone spiritual development.
But counting myself among those who would dispute that Crowley was even a very competent magician, I felt impelled to offer an opposing, non-Thelemic, point-of-view upon the assertions made regarding White and Black Magic in "Black Magic: A Definition by Oliver Haddo."
The double edged sword of consciousness endows man with the capacity for free will by making him aware of his separation from his Creator, other beings, and the created world. This awareness, unguided by wisdom, may easily result in the identification of man with his current identity or incarnation, which may then easily result in egoism, i.e., the assertion of one’s ego at the expense of other beings, or the created world, for purely selfish motives. From an ethical standpoint, such willful, selfish attitudes and behaviors is Evil.
So yes, Good and Evil do exist, just as Deity exists. A blind man may doubt that the stars shine in the dark, yet they do shine. Man was once ignorant of the laws of gravity, yet they continued to exist and to operate just the same. Similarly, the spiritually blind may argue all they wish that they have transcended the outmoded concepts of good and evil, yet the universe cares not one whit as to a man’s opinions. To return to my analogy, a foolish man may disbelieve in the force of gravity all he wants, but should the fool act upon his ignorance by stepping off of a cliff, he will instantly plummet to his death.
Not that death is of any great import. Nor can any man who fears death ever be rightly called an Adept. Once this was understood to be so self-evident, so contrary to the very meaning of Adepthood, that no man could state otherwise without immediately exposing himself for the fraud he was. And so now understand that all those who seek to prolong their own lives at the expense of another’s have always been, and always will be, charlatans who have no claim upon the title of Adept.
There are many definitions of Adepthood (and of course various grades of Adepthood), but the definition I like best is that the Adept has so purified his Will, that he wills nothing that is not in accordance with the Will of God.
Please note that this definition of a personal yet purified Will, is not the same as the Thelemic concept of the True Will. Nor do I agree with the misleading and utterly useless assertion that any act not consonant with one’s True Will is Black Magic, for here, once again, the focus is completely upon the self.
Once again the existence of, to say nothing of the consideration of, the Wills of others is completely overlooked.
But of course the reason for this omission has its root in the egotistical belief that spiritual development is a purely personal matter between myself and “whatever it is that controls the universe,” as Oliver Haddo put it. To begin with, “whatever it is that controls the universe,” is Deity, or God, or the Creator – hopefully the reader will choose whichever term he likes or substitute any other which he might prefer – just so long as he doesn’t emulate the use of such unnecessary verbiage just to avoid using the correct and proper term. For if we are going to use or discuss a concept, then at the very least we may as well get our terms straight.
But the crux of my argument is this: Man does not escape the issue of ethics, let alone ethical development, through any process of magical or spiritual development which aims at the unification of his higher and lower selves. On the contrary, any true magical and spiritual development is utterly and completely dependent upon the extent to which a man is able to formulate a correct understanding of ethical principles governing his relationships with others, his world, and his Creator, for it is only be developing such an understanding that the integration of the higher and lower selves can be properly and safely achieved.
There is a cliché about climbing the ladder of success, only to discover that it is leaning against the wrong wall. Aleister Crowley climbed mountains in search of Deity. Unfortunately, inspired by Lovecraft, he sought the Elder Gods rather than the Creator of all.
The kindest thing that I can say about Crowley is that, although he was an excellent mountaineer, anyone who studies his life, studies in particular the influence he had upon those closest to him, will have to conclude that he was an intellectually gifted but spiritually blind fool who demonstrated his foolishness by stepping off of numerous ethical cliffs.
But then, I have also heard it said that Evil is merely another word for stupidity.
