Aleister Crowley in India: The Secret Influence of Eastern Mysticism on Magic and the Occult
by Tobias Churton
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Sharing excerpts from Crowley's unpublished diaries, Tobias Churton tells the true story of Crowley's adventures in India from 1901 to 1906, culminating in his first experience of the supreme trance of jnana ("gnostic") yoga, Samadhi: divine union. Churton shows how Vedantist and Advaitist philosophies, Hindu religious practices, yoga, and Mahayana and Theravada Buddhism informed Crowley's spiritual system and reveals how he built on Madame Blavatsky and Henry Steel Olcott's prior work in show more India. Churton illuminates links between these beliefs and ancient Gnostic systems and shows how they informed the O.T.O. system through Franz Hartmann and Theodor Reuss. Churton explores Crowley's early breakthrough in consciousness research with a Dhyana trance in Sri Lanka, becoming a devotee of Shiva and Bhavani, fierce avatar of the goddess Parvati. Recounting Crowley's travels to the temples of Madurai, Anuradhapura, and Benares, Churton looks at the gurus of yoga and astrology Crowley met, while revealing his adventures with British architect, Edward Thornton. Churton also details Crowley's mountaineering feats in India, including the record-breaking attempt on Chogo Ri (K2) in 1902 and the Kangchenjunga disaster of 1905. Revealing how Crowley incorporated what he learned in India into his own school of Magick, including an extensive look at his theory of correspondences, the symbology of 777, and the Thelemic synthesis, Churton sheds light on one of the most profoundly mystical periods in Crowley's life as well as how it influenced the larger occult world. show lessTags
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33+ Works 1,668 Members
Britain's leading scholar of Western esotericism, Tobias Churton is a world authority on Gnosticism, Hermeticism, Freemasonry, and Rosicrucianism. Holding a master's degree in theology from Brasenose College, Oxford, he was appointed Honorary Fellow of Exeter University in 2005. The author of many books, including Gnostic Philosophy and Aleister show more Crowley in America, he lives in the heart of England. show less
Classifications
- Genres
- Nonfiction, Religion & Spirituality, Biography & Memoir, Health & Wellness
- DDC/MDS
- 130.92 — Philosophy and Psychology Parapsychology & occultism Parapsychology and occultism Biography And History Biography
- LCC
- BF1598 .C7 .C5755 — Philosophy, Psychology and Religion Psychology Occult sciences Magic. Hermetics. Necromancy
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 31
- Popularity
- 899,389
- Rating
- (5.00)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 2
- ASINs
- 1
