Ignatz wrote:
(Crowleys whole changing from Alexander to Aliester being another case in point, though a case could be made that it was indicitive of a personal magical transformation)
For the record, Aleister is the Gallic form of Alexander. At the time Crowley changed it he was very much influenced by "MacGregor" Mathers, who also changed his name to denote Gallic ancestry. At the turn of the century Gallic mysticism was quite popular so seeming to be of Gallic descent bought you some street cred, though it was also a means for Crowley to shed the identity of his youth, and with it all the encumberments of Christian fundamentalism with which he was raised.
As far as changing a word's spelling to give it a different or expanded meaning, well, that's been happening as long as there have been words.
Illmatic wrote:
5 and 6 are the key numbers in the Lesser banishing Rituals of the Pentegram/Hexagram, the two rituals you'd probably kick off with as a practioner of his system.
This statement is slighty misleading in that it implies that the LRP & LRH are simply introductory or basic (I know that's not what you mean Ill, but just to clarify...). While these rituals can be considered introductory they are in fact the very core of Thelemic ritual. Crowely himself suggested that within the LRP was the Philosopher's Stone, and to pursue this ritual to it's fullest was to pursue divinity. The ritual of the Pentagram is elemental magick within the microcosm, drawing down the macrocosm. The ritual of the Hexagram is planetary magick within the macrocosm, drawing up the microcosm. Again, 5 & 6.
Just as the Aeons (in Thelema) constitue an evolving, dynamic process, so too does the movement of 5 & 6, Earth and Heaven. Considering the word "magick" then as containing within itself its antecedent "magic", it represents a current moving between the two and, hence between the numbers it represents. From common (or elemental) magic (the microcosm - 5), to high (or planetary) magick (the macrocosm - 6), the union of these two being the goal of the Great Work.
In this way Crowley made the term specific to his system of Thelema. As you can see from the definition below, "magic" traditionally spoke of a greater esotericism than it's degradation into a simple referent to parlor magic, as Haus has shown earlier in this thread. But concerning Hir questioning the linguistic merit of adding the "k", well, there is none. It was solely done to encompass Crowley's system in a single, easy word. Brand recognition, if you will.
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magic:
1. The art that purports to control or forecast natural events, effects, or forces by invoking the supernatural.
A. The practice of using charms, spells, or rituals to attempt to produce supernatural effects or control events in nature.
B. The charms, spells, and rituals so used.
2. The exercise of sleight of hand or conjuring for entertainment. |
