THE
ARCANE
ARCHIVE
a cache of usenet and other text files pertaining
to occult, mystical, and spiritual subjects.


TOP | OCCULTISM | MAGIC | FICTION

Pitting Crowley against W. Somerset Maugham

To: alt.magick
From: Joseph 
Subject: Re: Pitting Crowley against W. Somerset Maugham (was: Re: Book for Tarot Divination
Date: Sat, 09 Nov 2002 05:01:57 GMT

catherine yronwode wrote:

> Joseph wrote:
> >
> > catherine yronwode wrote:
>
> > > My recollection is that the book had an image of a tower on the
> > > cover and the title was something like "The House Not Built By
> > > Hands" or some reference to that Biblical phrase. It may have been
>
> > > by -- or edited by, or "presented by" -- Dennis Wheatley, or it
> may
> > > have been part of the short-lived Xanadu Books imprint (which
> > > brought out Talbiot Mundy's "Secret of Ahbor Valley" and E. R.
> > > Eddison's "The Worm Ouroboros").
> > >
> > > Anybody know what i'm talking about here? Poke? Satyr? Joel? Paul?
>
> > > Josh?
> >
> > "The Magician" by Somerst Maughm? (not sure of spelling of name)
>
> That does not ring a bell. I will check it out, though. Thanks.
>
> cat

it was published prior to Crowley's (death 1908 iirc), in it Maugham
casts crowley as "oliver haddo" an evil magician doing all the typical
stuff evil magicians do, enslaving innocent virgins, raising the dead,
consorting with satan etc. etc. and the hero, whose name i forget, has
to over come haddo, by doing battle with the satanic hosts at haddos
command and save his sister or girlfriend, i forget which, but which,
either way, is a metaphor for the struggle between good and evil, it is
today not considered one of Maughams better works, even somewhat
embarrassing to the author of "of human bondage", and offended more than
a few people of his set by his liberal use of the foiables of those he
knew and socialized with,  its circulation is primarily limited crowley
aficionados these days.

according to one review of the book crowley wrote he (crowley) claimed
to be amused by the characterization of himself by an aspiring writer of
his own social circle (according to crowley maugham turned to popular
fiction out of a failure to comprehend the mystical, though this is
probly hubris on Crowley's part  as maugham studied medicine but was not
happy as a doctor and turned to writing for self fulfilment), the style
of the writing in general and his only real criticism was  what he
claimed were vast stretches of the book lifted in their entirety
(descriptions of rituals mostly, some thoughts on the mystical path
iirc) from his own writings with out any attribution as such.

there is a an interesting history of the book and the w. somerset
maugham/crowley connection/inspiration at:

http://www.redflame93.com/Maugham.html

there is a paper back edition with a typically lurid cover showing a
bald crowley like figure looming  behind an obviously freaked out,
scantily clad female in a pose reminiscent of Munch's "the scream".

--
Joseph ( The probability for an event which can happen in two
indistinguishable ways is the sum of the probability for each way
considered separately) Count de Money.

The Arcane Archive is copyright by the authors cited.
Send comments to the Arcane Archivist: tyaginator@arcane-archive.org.

Did you like what you read here? Find it useful?
Then please click on the Paypal Secure Server logo and make a small
donation to the site maintainer for the creation and upkeep of this site.

The ARCANE ARCHIVE is a large domain,
organized into a number of sub-directories,
each dealing with a different branch of
religion, mysticism, occultism, or esoteric knowledge.
Here are the major ARCANE ARCHIVE directories you can visit:
interdisciplinary: geometry, natural proportion, ratio, archaeoastronomy
mysticism: enlightenment, self-realization, trance, meditation, consciousness
occultism: divination, hermeticism, amulets, sigils, magick, witchcraft, spells
religion: buddhism, christianity, hinduism, islam, judaism, taoism, wicca, voodoo
societies and fraternal orders: freemasonry, golden dawn, rosicrucians, etc.

SEARCH THE ARCANE ARCHIVE

There are thousands of web pages at the ARCANE ARCHIVE. You can use ATOMZ.COM
to search for a single word (like witchcraft, hoodoo, pagan, or magic) or an
exact phrase (like Kwan Yin, golden ratio, or book of shadows):

Search For:
Match:  Any word All words Exact phrase

OTHER ESOTERIC AND OCCULT SITES OF INTEREST

Southern Spirits: 19th and 20th century accounts of hoodoo, including slave narratives & interviews
Hoodoo in Theory and Practice by cat yronwode: an introduction to African-American rootwork
Lucky W Amulet Archive by cat yronwode: an online museum of worldwide talismans and charms
Sacred Sex: essays and articles on tantra yoga, neo-tantra, karezza, sex magic, and sex worship
Sacred Landscape: essays and articles on archaeoastronomy, sacred architecture, and sacred geometry
Lucky Mojo Forum: practitioners answer queries on conjure; sponsored by the Lucky Mojo Curio Co.
Herb Magic: illustrated descriptions of magic herbs with free spells, recipes, and an ordering option
Association of Independent Readers and Rootworkers: ethical diviners and hoodoo spell-casters
Freemasonry for Women by cat yronwode: a history of mixed-gender Freemasonic lodges
Missionary Independent Spiritual Church: spirit-led, inter-faith, the Smallest Church in the World
Satan Service Org: an archive presenting the theory, practice, and history of Satanism and Satanists
Gospel of Satan: the story of Jesus and the angels, from the perspective of the God of this World
Lucky Mojo Usenet FAQ Archive: FAQs and REFs for occult and magical usenet newsgroups
Candles and Curios: essays and articles on traditional African American conjure and folk magic
Aleister Crowley Text Archive: a multitude of texts by an early 20th century ceremonial occultist
Spiritual Spells: lessons in folk magic and spell casting from an eclectic Wiccan perspective
The Mystic Tea Room: divination by reading tea-leaves, with a museum of antique fortune telling cups
Yronwode Institution for the Preservation and Popularization of Indigenous Ethnomagicology
Yronwode Home: personal pages of catherine yronwode and nagasiva yronwode, magical archivists
Lucky Mojo Magic Spells Archives: love spells, money spells, luck spells, protection spells, etc.
      Free Love Spell Archive: love spells, attraction spells, sex magick, romance spells, and lust spells
      Free Money Spell Archive: money spells, prosperity spells, and wealth spells for job and business
      Free Protection Spell Archive: protection spells against witchcraft, jinxes, hexes, and the evil eye
      Free Gambling Luck Spell Archive: lucky gambling spells for the lottery, casinos, and races