Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- Foreword
- Acknowledgements
- Abbreviations
- Introduction
- 1 An unspeakable life
- 2 Magical politics
- 3 Dangerous liaisons
- 4 The Mouth of Hell
- 5 Counter-initiation and conspiracy
- Conclusion
- Appendix 1 Some additional remarks on Julius Evola and Aleister Crowley
- Appendix 2 Key documents
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index
3 - Dangerous liaisons
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- Foreword
- Acknowledgements
- Abbreviations
- Introduction
- 1 An unspeakable life
- 2 Magical politics
- 3 Dangerous liaisons
- 4 The Mouth of Hell
- 5 Counter-initiation and conspiracy
- Conclusion
- Appendix 1 Some additional remarks on Julius Evola and Aleister Crowley
- Appendix 2 Key documents
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
Moreover, there is nobody interesting to know except saints, villains and madmen; they are the only ones whose conversation can be of any value.
(Joris-Karl Huysmans, Là-bas)In this chapter I will discuss some acquaintances of Crowley's that seem to be of particular interest for the subject of the present study. I will focus particularly on persons who had a more or less enduring connection with Crowley, and, most importantly, who were involved in one way or another in the politics of their times. In almost all cases, these persons associated with Crowley because they were attracted to the world of the occult and found his personality fascinating. This combination of the occult and the political recalls the definition of “illuminated politics” given by James Webb in his two seminal works, The Occult Underground and The Occult Establishment. According to Webb, this type of thought emerges “when occult ideas are found tangled up with political and social projects”. In this chapter I will examine some “illuminated” characters who had connections to Crowley, leaving for Chapter 4 a more detailed analysis of the most interesting one among them: Fernando Pessoa.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Aleister Crowley and the Temptation of Politics , pp. 65 - 94Publisher: Acumen PublishingPrint publication year: 2013