Magick Without Tears

XXVI republishing selected writings from The Equinox, entitled Gems from The Equinox, which falls within a price range that is compatible with the pocketbook of most students. But what are these books? Between 1909 and 1914, Aleister Crowley published in England a large, beautifully printed periodical. The masthead on the cover bore two phrases: "The Aim of Religion" and "The Method of Science." This periodical contained a wide assortment of verse, plays, short stories and miscellaneous occult material. One issue appeared every six months, at the Spring and Autumnal Equinoxes, of that five year period. Ten enormous issues appeared in all. After 1914 there was a hiatus of five years, corresponding to World War I, when Crowley was domiciled in the U.S. He called it a five year period of silence, which was ultimately broken by the appearance of another large volume bound in blue cloth-called colloquially the Blue Equinox. No others were published; there was no more money available. By students of occultism, these volumes were regarded as a veritable gold mine of occult lore. Most who bought them were far less interested in the wide literary assortment offered. Yoga and Magick were what these books stood for, and this is where The Equinox excelled. There was simply nothing like them elsewhere. In these instructions about the occult arts, Crowley used superb prose, and clarified the subject matter by eliminating all the superstition, dross and fantasy that had been attached to these topics. They were masterpieces of instruction. It was for these reasons that the eleven volumes of The Equinox were so zealously sought after throughout the years. In letter 75, Crowley has written a word or two about what he intended to accomplish in these books. What he has to say is so interesting that the following is quoted from that letter. My special job was to preserve the Sacred Tradition, so that a new Renaissance might in due season rekindle the hidden Light. I was accordingly to make a Quintessence