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Magick Without Tears | 
| Author: Aleister Crowley
Publisher: New Falcon Publications
Category: Book
Buy Used: $38.86
Rating:  27 reviews
Media: Paperback
Pages: 560
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.7
Dimensions (in): 8.3 x 5.4 x 1.5
ISBN: 1561840181
Dewey Decimal Number: 133.43
EAN: 9781561840182
ASIN: 1561840181
Publication Date: April 1, 1991
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: We ship daily! All orders ship out within 2 business days from OR. Your satisfaction is guaranteed! has visible damages on spine,has visible stain on edge
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| Customer Reviews:
 An excellent choice for a first book, just as good for the seasoned student. April 29, 2008
Vincent Saint (U.S.)
I wasn't sure what to expect when I bought this book, but I was pleasantly suprised by it. As most Crowley-fiends know, his work can be thick and hard to grasp (somthing like trying to wade through mollasses.)
This one, although of equal quality to the others, is much easier to read because it's in the format of natural language. Nothing to decipher, strait to the point, and also entertaining and upbeat. It makes a great primer on Alestier Crowley's teachings, as well as laying some of the foundation for understanding the rest of his books, so I recommend it as a first book by him to any serious student.
Also, it's structure (letters written by him to a student) makes it perfect for those few minutes of reading before bed, or just for those who hate putting a book down halfway through a chapter.
Just as important, THE NATURAL LANGUAGE FORMAT DOES NOT DETRACT FROM THE TECHNICAL QUALITY OF HIS WORK. He conveys the same ideas in a form easier to digest. Great book!
Clouded opinions January 14, 2008
Stacy Bertrand
I can appreciate others disatisfaction with this book. However, as a seeker I am constantly having to refocus what it is I am seeking. Or should I say, stay focused on what it is I set out to find. Especially while diving into thick subjects like Qabalah or other mystic traditions.
I notice most people either love Crowleys work or hate it with a passion and set out to destroy what it is he was trying to do when they hit that brick wall of not being able to understand his teachings.
People forget, Crowley was just a man. He was just a man seeking just like you or me or any other person male or female wanting to tap into the secrets of the Cosmos. A person does not pick up a book written by Crowley unless they are truly trying to unravel the Cosmic code of life, the Universe and God. I have noticed when people can not figure out what it is he is writing about they become almost violent in their attacks on his works. Their passion to seek out truth in the mysteries is replaced with repugnant claims of Crowley being a charlatain or at best a drug crazed madman. While in the end these same people make themselves look ignorant and simple minded by the verbage they chose to attack Crowley with. The same goes for anyone attacking any other spiritual path.
I see Crowley for who and what he was, and still is in this world. For his work continues to affect people on so many levels. Crowley did tap into something. He did have a true grasp on some truths that could change ones perspective on how this Universe works, as well as turn religions of the world inside out. That is very dangerous knowledge. And if just anyone had it it could destroy the bearer, or worse, our world. But he could not trust that information with just anyone. Actually he could not trust that information with ANYONE! Notice how eratic some of his writings are. He struggled with how much to share and in what way to present the knowledge he had. That struggle eventually destroyed him in a way. That is why we have stories of his drug use etc...
I know Christians, Muslims, Buddhists just as twisted in their grappling with the Holy Spirit and spiritual truths, and how they try to wrestle with sin and trying to be a good little Christian, or understanding Buddhists etc. We all struggle with these "demons". Its just that some of us can not handle it and those demons take us over. Then you have a priest rapping altar boys, and all the other atrocities you hear of within the Christian or other religious organisations.
I have seen it in all religions, drugs, sexual misconduct, back bitting etc... Its what we end up with when God fails us. In reality it is us that fail ourselves because of lack of faith in the Cosmos. So we give in to corporeal indulgences to cope with our inability to have the faith necessary to actually hear what it is the Universe is saying, doing, creating in our individual lives. What WE are creating in our own lives!
Crowley spent his life searching for truth in the mysteries. He found some very disturbing things on how we can manipulte our corporeal world. If just anyone had that information it could prove dangerous in the wrong hands. He was a member of many spiritual and masonic organisations. These Orders are the gaurdians of these mysteries. So how does one tell the world about these secrets? There is no straight forward way of presenting the material. If he wrote it out in plain black and white English then it would seem impossible and sound more outrageous than what he left us with to ponder after his death. For the truth is far more simpler than we could imagine. Describe love. You know you feel it, you know it causes so many emotions and chemical reactions in your body right down to your very essence. But putting it into words has taken up volumes of pages, thousends of songs, poems, paintings, scultures. Yet we still long to describe OUR individual experience of love. And you want Crowley to, in a few books he left after his death, to explain the mysteries of Magick and the Universe in a way you can understand? POSH!
Spirituality is a journey. Crowleys works are a journey unto themsleves. And if a seeker sets out trying to unravel these mysteries Crowley wrote about, and they stay the course, they will grow through their years of study. It does not happen in one reading or over night. I have spent over 30 years searching, studying, reading, practicing, praying, crying, yelling at God, the Universe and the Cosmos for answers to all of this we call the Universe, God, Allah, Magick etc... It DOES NOT happen over night. And yes, some of his writings are plain and simple drivel. But it is all part of the journey. HIS JOURNEY, not yours or mine. So there is no way to truly understand everything he had to say, because there are some things words just cant explain.
I can create some of the most wonderful things through Magick. But trying to explain how it works is impossible. I know how it works. I understand whats going on with the energy I manipulate. But putting it into words for YOU to understand is impossible. Mainly because the Universe, God, the Cosmos, all of these words we use to describe our creator or Origin, is personal unto each individual.
Christians would say the Holy Spirit speaks to each of us on our own spiritual understanding level. While I may feed on spiritual milk, you might be more advanced and feed on spiritual meat. So it is with Crowley. There is some meat there we will never understand until we get to that level. Then again, we may never be able to convey that understanding to another person because they might not be ready for it.
In closing, I challenge you or anyone else out there to stop judging this man and stay the course of your own journey. You will find gems of truth, and you will find utter nonsense as well. But you will need the nonsense to off set your journey at times. To challenge you and your sincerity in the things you seek. The Cosmos know when you need a break to ponder whats in front of you. Trust these times and take time to ponder that "drivel" you claim Crowley wrote, or any other drivel you have on your plate. In the long run you may find it wasnt drivel after all, that you were just blinded by the veil and couldnt see the forest for the trees. It is all part of your personal journey and came into your life for a reason.
As I said before, one does not read Crowleys work for entertainment. If a person picks up one of his books they are seeking something more than a sci-fi mind escape. They are seeking to understand the mysteries. And anyone on this journey knows a mystery is always clouded with booby traps and things to throw you off. For only the sincere seeker will find the truth in the end. All others will do nothing more than write sour commentaries attacking the subject at hand out of ignorance.
If you have read any of Crowleys books I urge you to read this one too. It wont hurt you. It will only add to your knowledge base of one of the most contoversial Qabalistic writers ever known.
And if you dont like it. Email me. I will buy your copy.
Frater SEB/Veritas Quaerito
The single best introduction to Aleister Crowley January 23, 2007
Evolver (NJ USA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This book is the best way to get a clear look into what you will find in the works of Aleister Crowley. However, do not expect to get a complete guide on how to work the systems A.C. has developed: the various letters are overviews and not the in-depth texts you will find in other parts of Uncle Al's library.
When someone expresses an interest in learning more about A.C., this is always the first book i lend.
 No tears but plenty of wit and snark April 16, 2005
Saskia Van Uylenburgh
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
Magick without Tears is a compendium of Aleister Crowley's thoughts on magic, both practical and theoretical. Written fairly late in his life, the book is composed in the form of short letters on various topics, laid out in a more or less logical, cumulative way. However, it is the sort of books that lends itself well to dipping in at will.
Crowley is engaging, lucid, funny, sensible in writing on all sorts of aspects of magical practice, especially as pertaining to his own magical philosophy of Thelema and the organization which has propagated it, the O.T.O. (www.oto-usa.org) He has a large vocabulary and a large fund of Scriptural references, thanks to his very strict Protestant sectarian upbringing. He is at times deliberately shocking and often infuriating, but perhaps less so here than in other works. If you are interested in the history or practice of magic and occultism, especially in the last century, you cannot afford to skip over Crowley, and Magick without Tears is one of his most accessible books.
Underappreciated collection of Crowley's correspondence. December 12, 2004
Steph Van D (Northern Ontario, Canada)
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
First things first: "Cara Soror" means "Dear Sister"; "Cara" is referred to in other reviews as a single individual student but this is a misinterpretation of the text.
Magick Without Tears is filled with gems of wisdom and philosophy, arranged very topically and with a useful index. Crowley uses plain language in the letters although the book does require concentration and more than one reading to absorb much of the content; this is not fluff reading for the beach! His writing style is informal, charming and humorous in some areas and vitriolic in others, especially when confronting lazy or muddled thinking in his students. Pomposity is kept to a minimum and the conversational tone makes The Great Beast seem almost approachable.
Crowley covers a host of topics, from vampires to overcoming one's fears of astral travel to geomancy, womanhood, false "teachers" and other subjects.
It's assumed that readers will have more than a passing familiarity with the points he discusses and occultism in general, and part of the book's appeal is that it answers questions that serious students will already have arrived at on their own. Crowley's insights are certainly illuminating since they spring from a lifetime of experience. To his credit, he advocates critical thinking and skepticism in his students and leaves some blanks for readers to fill in; practical information is freely given to a point, after which it's up to you! Much can be inferred from his silence on certain points also, which is why this book needs careful reading if you want to get the most out of it. Don't let the conversational tone fool you; this book is a serious work with plenty of information there for the taking.
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