{"id":21712,"date":"2020-02-01T01:10:20","date_gmt":"2020-02-01T05:10:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/?p=21712"},"modified":"2020-03-05T11:21:39","modified_gmt":"2020-03-05T15:21:39","slug":"book-review-one-truth-and-one-spirit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/2020\/02\/01\/book-review-one-truth-and-one-spirit\/","title":{"rendered":"Book Review – One Truth and One Spirit: Aleister Crowley\u2019s Spiritual Legacy by Keith Readdy"},"content":{"rendered":"

Book Review<\/span><\/b><\/span><\/span><\/h1>\n

One Truth and One Spirit<\/span><\/b><\/span><\/span><\/h1>\n

Aleister Crowley\u2019s Spiritual Legacy<\/span><\/b><\/span><\/span><\/h1>\n

by <\/span>Keith Readdy<\/span><\/b><\/span><\/span><\/h1>\n

436 Pages<\/span><\/b><\/span><\/span><\/h1>\n

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I purposely do not read anyone else\u2019s reviews on a book before I read a book. I do this so that another does not influence my view of the book; I must admit books on Aleister Crowley can be a little dry, and the difficult. But there\u2019s always strange & interesting tidbits that I pick up in the books.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Mr. Readdy\u2019s book is a history book. Therefore, it reads like a history book, and if your history buff, that\u2019s fine. I was still able to find a lot of interesting information within this book. I found it interesting that<\/span><\/span><\/span>\u00a0The Book of the Law<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/em>\u00a0was a manuscript that resulted from instructions received by Mrs. Crowley, Aleister\u2019s wife.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

We hear a lot of talk about connecting with our higher selves. In chapter 3:\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span>Two Orders in the New Aeon,<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/em>\u00a0Mr. Readdy writes about the second-order of the<\/span><\/span><\/span>\u00a0Red Rose and Golden Cross<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/em>. Here is where according to legend, one would go to the Mountain of Initiation. Here one would \u201cattain to be more human, and thus gradually raise and unite myself to my higher and divine genius.\u201d Upon reading this, my question became this, \u201cWhere today we got the whole connecting with my higher divine self?\u201d In chapter 12:\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span>The Digital Magus: the author\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/em>writes, \u201cHigher-Self, such psychologized spiritualities insist that the divine is equivalent to the \u201c<\/span><\/span><\/span>Higher-Self<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/em>.\u201d That religious practice aims to apotheosize one\u2019s ego.\u201d Mr. Readdy writes this because Thelema teaches that you gain your\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span>True-Will<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/em>\u00a0from the Holy Guardian Angel, which is not Higher Self. (Mr. Readdy gives two different publications on this point one from 1977 and the other from 2001.)<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0Mr. Readdy writes about the battles that the\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span>O.T.O (Ordo Templi Orientis)\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/em>and\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/span>A<\/span><\/span><\/span>?<\/span><\/span><\/span>A<\/span><\/span><\/span>?<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a>\u00a0\u00a0went through in the past. It seems after Crowley\u2019s death, there was a lot of scandal over who had rights to what, and Mr. Readdy writes about the court battles that various people and groups went through.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

While I do not follow any of Aleister Crowley\u2019s teachings, it holds some information that I can still use in my own life<\/span><\/span><\/span>. One Truth and One Spirit\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/em>covers the development of Thelema. The stories that Mr. Readdy has included about the different people involved in this spirituality.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Mr. Readdy does talk in this book about how both\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span>O.T.O\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/em>and\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span>A<\/span><\/span><\/span>?<\/span><\/span><\/span>A<\/span><\/span><\/span>?<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a>\u00a0were meant to complement each other. And both were expected to work with E.G.C. (Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica). The O.T.O aims to follow the hierarchical chain of command to establish Thelemic principles in the world. The E.G.C is the ecclesiastical arm of the spirituality movement. The other arm is the one that leads the initiate through the curriculum put forth by Mr. Crowley.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

I liked this book that Mr. Readdy has put forth. I feel sorry for anybody who finds my copy; I don\u2019t write in books; instead, I use Post-it notes with words written on them. This book has a lot of Post-it notes. So, if you\u2019re interested in the history of Thelema, Mr. Aleister Crowley, and the way this spirituality came into existence, I would suggest getting Mr. Readdy\u2019s book.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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