“Science is always discovering odd scraps of magical wisdom and making a tremendous fuss about its cleverness.” The Confessions of Aleister Crowley : An Autohagiography.
Crowley, a.k.a. as Frater Perdurabo was an infamous British mystic, occultist, mountaineer and a promiscuous bisexual (also referred to as pansexual, i.e. gender blind). And all that, (except for mountaineering) was illegal in his contemporary times, one hundred years ago.
The documentary is quite general but I find its mood and atmosphere very adequate to the occasion of Halloween. It tells a story of a true, flesh and bone witch, who was imperfect and flawed in many ways but remained faithful to his ideology.
He was an extremely clever and well read individual, though intoxicated with magic. Crowley was a prolific writer, and not only on magic but also on such subjects as politics, philosophy, culture He participated in numerous cults and occult organizations and he finally set up his own, which he called Thelema. Very intriguing is the fact that his method of study of magic was a scientific one. He said: “I was anxious to prove that spiritual progress did not depend on religious or moral codes, but was like any other science“, which meant that angels and demons didn’t care whether you’re a Muslim or a Christian.
I. Here are some of the more difficult words you might want to check before/after watching the short film:
brethren, notorious, religious authority, gifted, distinguished, mountaineer, supersede, outdated, sought for enlightenment, raise eyebrows, The Order of The Golden Dawn, doctrine, entity, magical rites, mignons, invoke angelic forces.
II. After watching the documentary, discuss these questions connected with the topic of supernatural:
1. Do you believe in such supernatural phenomena as ghosts or demons?
2. Have you (or someone you know) ever come across an event that can be classified as supernatural?
3. How do you explain exorcisms officially performed and documented by catholic priests?
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