hi Leigh (and thankyou for the comp!)
a fabulous potential exercise in comparing the diaries- however I fear you
may find that you stray from your initial focus once you get to sit down and
compare a date-by-date version for each writer, on a few of those days I
compared in each diary (the full comparison exercise being something I have
wanted to do for years- see that green glow on the horizon? that's
good-natured envy !) I found that Leah was writing mundane, sometimes
desperate material about their general life circumstances at Cefalu- when
they were often on the verge of starvation and the children were ill- and AC
was pontificating on higher things.... so they **might** not be material
that can be employed in answering your research question.... AC's diaries
over a longer period might give an insight into the repeat-measures element
of his procedure though
The Witchcraft Museum do indeed have a copy of Leah's diaries in their
library, however for a time (maybe still now) they were also to be found
online- which if still the case will make your life easier, as Queensland to
Cornwall is a very long trek (however much fun that would be). I seem to
recall they also appeared in an edition of Chaos International, or at least
a segment of them, some years back
On the intersection between magic, science and religion I must recommend you
read SSOTBME by Ramsey Dukes (aka Lionel Snell) for a superb occult
practitioner's view of the subject (he also deals with art as another
perspective on the world); details here:
http://occultebooks.com/Default.aspx?tabid=152 and scroll down a bit for
review texts- some of those reviews mention an e-book version which may not
be available right now, but it is still in print as a physical book... If
you read and enjoy the book I will be able to put you in touch with Lionel,
who is very happy to exchange correspondence with interested people
discussing his ideas on magick
a short overview of some of the ideas in SSOTBME also appeared in a past
JSM, issue 2 or 3 I think (not got them immediately to hand so cannot be
sure) entitled Four Glasses of Water
There is also some valuable material on magic versus science in Alex Owen's
recent-ish book
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Place-Enchantment-British-Occultism-Culture/dp/0226642011
that is an amazon link in the uk, obviously not of use to you in Oz, but
just to give you the title.
Egil Asprem's paper here http://www.cesnur.org/2008/london_asprem.doc will
also be of interest
great project, I really like the sound of it!
cheers
Dave E
----- Original Message -----
From: "Morgan Leigh" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Friday, May 09, 2008 11:03 AM
Subject: [ACADEMIC-STUDY-MAGIC] PhD Thesis Idea - request for input
> Greetings all,
> I have just started a PhD at the University of Queensland, in the school
> of History, Philosophy, Religion and Classics. Having done a bit of
> reading, I am now at the stage of actually, exactly nailing down a precise
> thesis idea. Being as I am very interested in the intersection of science
> and religion, particularly the position that magic holds in relation to
> these two categories, I am thinking of doing an analysis of the diaries of
> Aleister Crowley and Leah Hirsig, for such period as the diaries of these
> two overlap, and considering if they support the contention that magic is
> science. IMHO magic is a technology. Moreover the process of learning
> magic is a scientific process, especially when a magical diary is used, to
> exactly what degree being the question. I would be most obliged for any
> input whatsoever any of you wise souls might have regarding my humble yet
> superlative idea, especially vis a vis interesting things to read, similar
> things that have been done before, ideas about where to see copies of
> Hirsig's diaries (I know about the copy in the witchcraft museum - Thank
> you Dave Evans for writing Aleister Crowley and the 20th Century Synthesis
> of Magick).
>
> Regards,
>
> Morgan Leigh
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