Description
Crowley, Aleister; Cornelius, J. Edward
Privately printed by J. Edward Cornelius, Berkeley, California, 2010. Hardcover. First Edition. Limited edition, limited to 777 hand numbered copies. 8vo. x + 246pp. Black cloth with gilt titling to spine, full colour dust-jacket. Mild shelf-wear, tiny edge tear to dust-jacket, otherwise Near Fine.
The Magickal Essence of Aleister Crowley focuses on the central philosophies and practices of Magick, in particular the “attainment of the knowledge and conversation of the Holy Guardia Angel,” and the secrets that lie at the heart of Crowley’s Liber Aleph and The Book of Lies. The text has its origins in a series of instructions that Aleister Crowley gave to an American disciple, Grady Louis McMurtry, during the last years of the Second World War. McMurtry returned to the United States, and in his later years went on to head both the O.T.O. and his own lineage of the A.’. A.’. He became both friend and mentor to the author of this book, J. Edward Cornelius, to whom he confided the secrets and teachings that he had received from Crowley.
Following McMurtry’s death, Cornelius explored these insights in a series of “Epistles” that were privately circulated amongst his own students. In 1999, he made a synthesis of these teachings, which he published in the Red Flame series of journals under the title The Magickal Essence of Aleister Crowley. It sold out rapidly, and soon became one of the most sought after modern explorations of Crowley’s work. In the decade that has elapsed since the publication of the original Red Flame edition of the book, Cornelius has carefully reworked the text, removing sections that he no longer felt to be of relevance, clarifying passages that some of his students found difficult or perplexing, and extensively revising and augmenting the rest. In the process he has added fifteen new chapters, effectively reshaping the entire publication, and filling it with new insights for those interested in the Magick of “the Beast.”
