Solid response, and much nicer and more eloquent than I am. Great points you brought up, honestly. I normally look at the fruits of a practitioner rather than the person, but Crowley was so loud of a man it is really hard to see past his own bullshit.
His Abyss crossing, I question it. The HGA concept, and his experience with it left me scratching my head, doesn't hold much water. And if that is an example of his path, then I'm out. Too Abrahamic for my taste. Dying alone (or mostly alone) penniless, addicted, full of ego, I dont need magick for any of that. (Yep, I'm a bit jaded, but I will leave room for a bad interpretation on my part. Maybe some day I will circle back to some of his stuff, maybe I will grow into it in a new way, never know.)
Even despite the million holes in all his stuff, he was brilliant, rebellious and irreverent, and I love that. He had some great insights, even if they weren't all his. His whole life didn't suck, its just easy to only see those parts. Trying to be objective here.
That said, there are tons of folks who find themselves following his words and system. I personally follow no system. I tried Thelema for about a year, fuck man, I just struggled with the word mazes and barbs. Truth doesn't require any of that, ego often does. To me there are big things that Thelema doesn't resolve about itself, so I parted ways with it entirely. Again, others find themselves in it and that's amazing. Zero judgement. If it resonates, it resonates. To me, it didn't, it just took me a year to decide.
Love is the law, love under Will is pretty badass though.
**Last thought, Crowley, also Parsons were both great examples of practitioners with all fire and zero grounding. I resonate with that aspect so much. I had to learn how to be grounded so I didn't burn up and flame out like Parsons, or burn so hot that ego takes over like Crowley.
