Hi frater;

I found the reference (or one of them) on pg 199 of the 1929 edition of Magick in Theory and Practice and it is as you say:

Of all the creatures He ever met, the most prominent of English spiritists (a

journalist and pacifist of more than European fame) had the filthiest mind and the

foulest mouth. He would break off any conversation to tell a stupid smutty story,

and could hardly conceive of any society assembling for any other purpose than

"phallic orgies", whatever they may be. Utterly incapable of keeping to a subject,

he would drag the conversation down again and again to the sole subject of which

he really thought --- sex and sex-perversions and sex and sex and sex and sex

again.

This was the plain result of his spiritism. All spiritists are more or less similarly

afflicted. They feel dirty even across the street; their auras are ragged, muddy and

malodorous; they ooze the slime of putrefying corpses.

No spiritist, once he is wholly enmeshed in sentimentality and Freudian fearphantasms,

is capable of concentrated thought, of persistent will, or of moral

character. Devoid of every spark of the divine light which was his birthright, a prey

before death to the ghastly tenants of the grave, the wretch, like the mesmerized

and living corpse of Poe's Monsieur Valdemar, is a "nearly liquid mass of

loathsome, of detestable putrescence."

The student of this Holy Magick is most earnestly warned against frequenting

their seances, or even admitting them to his presence.

They are contagious as Syphilis, and more deadly and disgusting. Unless your

aura is strong enough to inhibit any manifestation of the loathly larvae that have

taken up their habitation in them, shun them as you need not mere lepers!<<It

occurs in certain rare cases that a very unusual degree of personal purity combined

with integrity and force of character provides even the ignorant with a certain

natural defence, and attracts into his aura only intelligent and beneficent entities.

Such persons may perhaps practise spiritualism without obvious bad results, and

even with good results, within limits. But such exceptions in no wise invalidate the

general rule, or in any way serve as argument against the magical theory outlined

above with such mild suasion.

I hope that this helps Alison and anyone else that is interested in Crowley's take on seances.

DGM

Date: Fri, 23 Sep 2011 11:17:24 -0700
From: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [ACADEMIC-STUDY-MAGIC] Crowley and Spiritualism
To: [log in to unmask]

hi all, first time posting, forgive me if I did something wrong...

While I do not have the reference available here to quote directly, Crowley's view on Spiritualism and Mediums is quite easy to determine. In Book Four Part Four (better known as Magick in Theory and Practice) he made a comment to the effect that spiritualists and mediums were (in his opinion) the worst sorts of people. He claimed that mediums purposefully invite any and all influences into their sphere, where the pathetic creatures are all too happy to spew their vomit upon them. His belief seems to have been that if one does not take the proper precautions, one is assured of being used and abused by nefarious spirits and demonic influences. He cited examples of persons calling themselves mediums who were the absolute worst types of people, foul mouthed and contentious in every aspect of their lives.

While it is certain he had some dealings with the more established groups of "Spiritists" such as the Theosophical Society, I tend think his overall view of such things was almost entirely negative, at least going by the comments given in Magick in Theory and Practice.

Again forgive me if I posted wrong, or if I am overstating the obvious.

--- On Fri, 9/23/11, John Power <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

From: John Power <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: [ACADEMIC-STUDY-MAGIC] Crowley and Spiritualism
To: [log in to unmask]
Date: Friday, September 23, 2011, 8:02 AM
Crowley called it Spiritism, because he didn't think there was anything Spiritual about it. Any help?

-----Original Message-----
From: Alison Butler <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Fri, 23 Sep 2011 13:13
Subject: [ACADEMIC-STUDY-MAGIC] Crowley and Spiritualism

Hello all, I was hoping to avail of the collective wisdom on the list for suggestions of where to look for Crowley's take on spiritualism, mediumship, etc. I'm looking into Dion Fortune's incorporation of spiritualist techniques and was wondering whether similar developments were taking place elsewhere amongst early to mid 20th-century occultists - Crowley in particular but not exclusively. Thanks in advance for any pointers. Alison