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http://unimelb.academia.edu/BenMcDonald
https://plus.google.com/112179743407664132860/about
Charlie Farrow



On 1 November 2011 00:44, Caroline Tully <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

I can try…. When I find out who he actually is.

 

~Caroline.

 

 

From: Society for The Academic Study of Magic [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Dr Dave Evans
Sent: Tuesday, 1 November 2011 11:35 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [ACADEMIC-STUDY-MAGIC] The Daughter of the Beast: Grief and Death in the Thought of Aleister Crowley

 

wow, can you get him on this list? sounds like a great take on AC

DaveE

On Tue, Nov 1, 2011 at 12:30 AM, Caroline Tully <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

I noticed this abstract (below) amongst the University of Melbourne School of Historical and Philosophical Studies ‘Work In Progress Day’ presentations. I don’t know this guy, but thought it was interesting that he was doing something on Aleister Crowley as that is _very unusual _ at Melbourne Uni. I will try to get to it – he’s on straight after me, in another room.

 

High on the British Empire

 

November 3 2011

 

9.15 – 10.45 am Old Arts Lecture Theatre B

 

 

The Daughter of the Beast: Grief and Death in the Thought of Aleister Crowley

 

Ben McDonald

Aleister Crowley is mostly remembered as a mad egoist, a sexual fiend, and a fascist thug.  To an extent, the self-styled “Beast” deserves this reputation, which he earned for himself through a life of drugs, debauchery, and debt. It was not, however, the legacy that this earnest occultist hoped for, nor is it a legacy that says much about the content of his thoughts and writings.

For the first time, I consider Crowley within the wider context of attitudes towards death and grief in interwar Britain, a period commonly characterised as one of unhappy emotional restraint. I examine his often lurid thoughts on life and death, his attempts to conquer his rampant love of self, and his reaction to the death of his infant daughter - a moment of profound grief and a rare moment of human tenderness for the “wickedest man in Britain.”