The Confessions of Aleister Crowley

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Cover of The Confessions of Aleister Crowley.
Cover of The Confessions of Aleister Crowley.

The Confessions of Aleister Crowley : An Autohagiography, by Aleister Crowley (1875-1947), is a book written in six parts. It is subtitled "An Autohagiography" which refers to the autobiography of a Saint, a title which Crowley would also have associated with the Plymouth Brethren, who use it to refer to themselves. Crowley was brought up as one of their members.[1]

Contents

[edit] Contents

  1. Towards the Golden Dawn
  2. The Mystical Adventure
  3. The Advent of the Aeon of Horus
  4. Magical Workings
  5. The Magus
  6. At the Abbey of Thelema

[edit] Description

It tells the story of the mystic and writer, from his childhood through to after his communal experiment at the Abbey of Thelema. It is narrated in the third person until Crowley's father dies when he is 12 years old, and then switches to the first person:

"Previous to the death of Edward Crowley [Aleister's father], the recollections of his son, however vivid or detailed, appear to him strangely impersonal. In throwing back his mind to that period, he feels, although attention constantly elicits new facts, that he is investigating the behavior of somebody else. It is only from this point that he begins to think of himself in the first person. From this point, however, he does so; and is able to continue this autohagiography in a more conventional style by speaking of himself as "I"."

The original printing in 1929 (Mandrake Press, London) only included the first two volumes. All printings since 1969 have included all six.

[edit] Editions

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Pamela V. Cullen, "A Stranger in Blood: The Case Files on Dr John Bodkin Adams", London, Elliott & Thompson, 2006, ISBN 1-904027-19-9
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