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Speaker 1: That's allbrds dot com. Welcome to Unexplained Extra with me
Speaker 1: Richard McClain smith. For the weeks in between episodes, we
Speaker 1: look at the stories that, for one reason or other,
Speaker 1: didn't make it into the show. In last week's episode,
Speaker 1: The Spaces That Linger, we journeyed to the grounds of
Speaker 1: Bleskan House on the banks of Lochnets in the Highlands
Speaker 1: of Scotland. Although the house was long been the subject
Speaker 1: of dark intrigue, it is perhaps best known for its
Speaker 1: association with author and occultist Alister Crowley. The house had
Speaker 1: been selected by Crowley as the perfect place to conduct
Speaker 1: a magic ritual known as the Abramelon Operation The operation is,
Speaker 1: in principle, a spell to make contact with one's guardian angel,
Speaker 1: one that also requires calling forth the demons known as
Speaker 1: the Twelve Kings of Hell. The invocation required an ascetic concentration,
Speaker 1: which was to last an obligatory six months. Failure to
Speaker 1: adhere to the correct time frame could some believed leave
Speaker 1: a gateway open for the demons to escape. Crowley is
Speaker 1: thought to have begun the ritual in the Easter of
Speaker 1: nineteen hundred, but famously left it incomplete. Four years later,
Speaker 1: Crowley would finally make contact with his guardian angel. It
Speaker 1: was an event that would change his life forever, and
Speaker 1: one that has established Crowley in legend far beyond any
Speaker 1: of his peers. After breaking off the ritual, Crowley spent
Speaker 1: some time in Paris with his friend Samuel Mathers, only
Speaker 1: for their relationship to ultimately turn sour. He returned to
Speaker 1: Scotland and became friendly with a young painter known as
Speaker 1: Gerald Kelly. Kelly would later be known as Sir Gerald Kelly,
Speaker 1: President of the Royal Academy. After spending some time with
Speaker 1: Kelly at his family home in Strathpeffer in Scotland, Crowley
Speaker 1: met and became close to Gerald's sister, Rose Kelly, a
Speaker 1: widower now betrothed unhappily to another man. In a characteristically
Speaker 1: impulsive gesture, Crowley suggested she married him to ward off
Speaker 1: the unwanted suitor. The pair eloped the following day, on
Speaker 1: August the twelfth, nineteen o three. Despite the apparent flippancy
Speaker 1: of the gesture, it would seem that Crowley, a man
Speaker 1: who had always been enthralled to his own heightened sense
Speaker 1: of sexuality, felt a growing magnetism between them. Reveling in
Speaker 1: the scandalous behavior, Crowley and Rose returned to Boleskin House
Speaker 1: before embarking on an extended honeymoon to Cairo, and it
Speaker 1: is there that the story takes a peculiar turn. After
Speaker 1: arriving in Cairo, in what had become a feature of
Speaker 1: Crowley's life, Alister adopted the pseudonym Prince Choya Khan. The
Speaker 1: pair took up residence in an apartment which Crowley had
Speaker 1: had partially converted to mimic an Egyptian temple. They told
Speaker 1: all who cared to listen that they had been granted
Speaker 1: the rank of prince and princess by an unnamed Eastern sultan.
Speaker 1: At some time, Crowley attempted a ritual for the benefit
Speaker 1: of Rose, who was by this point pregnant with Crowley's
Speaker 1: first child. The operation, known as the Bornless Ritual, is
Speaker 1: the liliminary invocation to the ars Goetia, which in turn
Speaker 1: forms the first book of the infamous Lesser Key of Solomon.
Speaker 1: The book, also known as the Lemegaton, was compiled anonymously
Speaker 1: sometime in the seventeenth century and is considered a primary
Speaker 1: text of demonology, with the ars Goetier detailing no less
Speaker 1: than seventy two demons for invocation. It is not clear
Speaker 1: exactly what Crowley had intended with the ritual, though some
Speaker 1: suggest he had grown impatient with his new wife and
Speaker 1: had taken to teasing her with his magic obsession. However,
Speaker 1: after a short bout of chanting, Rose began acting strangely.
Speaker 1: She had fallen into some kind of trance and had
Speaker 1: started to mutter something, They are waiting for you, she said.
Speaker 1: The irritated Crowley, who at this point, despite years of trying,
Speaker 1: had never actually made contact with any of the spirits
Speaker 1: he had tried to invoke, demanded to know who Rose
Speaker 1: was talking to. It was the ancient Egyptian god Horace,
Speaker 1: she replied, she told Crowley he had offended the god.
Speaker 1: An incredulous Crowley took Rose immediately to the nearby Bulak
Speaker 1: Museum now known as the Egyptian Museum of Antiquities to
Speaker 1: identify the deity she claimed to be in communication with,
Speaker 1: Arriving shortly after at the museum, Rose proceeded to lead
Speaker 1: Crowley past a number of holy and ancient Egyptian artifacts
Speaker 1: before finally coming to a stop in front of an
Speaker 1: intricately decorated piece of wood known as a steely. More precisely,
Speaker 1: it was the Steely of Revealing and dated from around
Speaker 1: six hundred and eighty BC. Sure Enough, the beautiful piece
Speaker 1: of funerary art on the right hand side depicts a
Speaker 1: recently deceased priest making an offering to the falcon headed
Speaker 1: god Ra Harakhti, an amalgamation of the Sun god Ra
Speaker 1: and Horace. Rose, at least to Crowley's mind, seemed to
Speaker 1: be telling the truth. Crowley was convinced further when he
Speaker 1: looked down to find the exhibition number of the artifact.
Speaker 1: The number was six six six six sixty six, as
Speaker 1: many will know, is equated with the number of the
Speaker 1: beast as depicted in the Book of Revelation. The number
Speaker 1: has become synonymous with the Antichrist and Satan and all
Speaker 1: their dark and evil connotations. To Crowley, however, it meant
Speaker 1: something a little different. It was Crowley's mother who first
Speaker 1: labeled him the Beast, presumably in reaction to a young
Speaker 1: Crowley's burgeoning rejection of the family's puritanical beliefs. To Crowley,
Speaker 1: it was a label that he would gleefully come to embrace.
Speaker 1: To some, it was evidence of Crowley's innate wickedness, but
Speaker 1: for others it spoke of nothing more than his refusal
Speaker 1: to accept what he saw as the arbitrary labels and
Speaker 1: morals of the Christian faith. The Moniker served ultimately as
Speaker 1: a symbol of Crowley's core belief, a belief that was
Speaker 1: soon to be articulated in the most extraordinary of circumstances.
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Speaker 1: d oc dot com slash Unexplained podcast. After the visit
Speaker 1: to the museum, the couple returned to their Cairo apartment,
Speaker 1: where Rose is believed to have instructed Crowley on how
Speaker 1: to communicate with Horace. On April the eighth, nineteen o four,
Speaker 1: Crowley commenced a new ritual, now under the guidance of Rose.
Speaker 1: A short time later, he heard a voice that seemed
Speaker 1: to be coming from behind his shoulder. Crowley later claimed
Speaker 1: the voice belonged to an entity known as I was
Speaker 1: who present entered itself as none other than Crowley's own
Speaker 1: guardian Angel, the same entity with which he had been
Speaker 1: trying to communicate in Bleskin House. I was told Crowley
Speaker 1: that he was the messenger of Horace, and instructed Alister
Speaker 1: to be ready at twelve noon every day for the
Speaker 1: next three days in order to receive his word sure enough.
Speaker 1: Over the course of the next three days, I was
Speaker 1: as believed to have returned to speak to Crowley, who
Speaker 1: in turn wrote down every word that he received. When
Speaker 1: the three days were over, Crowley had before him the
Speaker 1: document that would become his true legacy. The book was
Speaker 1: titled lieber l Vell Legis or the Book of the Law.
Speaker 1: Regardless of your belief or its true provenance, the text
Speaker 1: is a fascinating document which sets out Crowley's ideas for
Speaker 1: a brand new religion that he would later come to
Speaker 1: call Theeleama, which is still followed and practiced today. As
Speaker 1: the author Colin Wilson points out, there is nothing particularly
Speaker 1: original about the text, comparing it as he does, to
Speaker 1: the far Superior Man and Superman by George Bernard Shaw,
Speaker 1: as well as pointing out its clear indebtedness to the
Speaker 1: philosophy of Nietzsche. However, it does suggest that Crowley was
Speaker 1: more than the brainless charlatan his detractors would have him be. Certainly,
Speaker 1: for Crowley at least, the text was nothing less than
Speaker 1: the Bible for his new religion, an attempt to obliterate
Speaker 1: the reigning monotheistic religions and usher in a new epoch
Speaker 1: for man, one based on liberation without restriction, and one
Speaker 1: that above all implored people to follow their own path.
Speaker 1: It is a philosophy perhaps best summed up by the
Speaker 1: book's most famous line, do what thou wilt should be
Speaker 1: the whole of the law, a basic idea that is
Speaker 1: often greatly misunderstood as the justification of selfish or immoral behavior,
Speaker 1: a situation or the more ironic, since what Crowley ultimately
Speaker 1: preached was the complete control of life for one's self,
Speaker 1: and not to have it defined by what other people
Speaker 1: might project onto it. In the years that followed on
Speaker 1: from the Cairo trip, it is fair to say that
Speaker 1: Crowley lived a fairly colorful life, the extent to which
Speaker 1: will not be done justice in the time we have here.
Speaker 1: Suffice to say there are plenty of books and documentaries
Speaker 1: out there for anyone interested in finding out more about
Speaker 1: his life. It is also fair to say that much
Speaker 1: of his life was shrouded in controversy, and to many
Speaker 1: some of it will seem unpalatable sadistic. Even his voracious
Speaker 1: commitment to the practice of sex magic and the insanely
Speaker 1: chaotic attempt to form a Thelema community on the island
Speaker 1: of Sicily are just two aspects that come to mind.
Speaker 1: But for me, it all comes back to the Book
Speaker 1: of the Law. Whether you believe that Crowley was blessed
Speaker 1: with genuine magic powers or not, and there are many
Speaker 1: who do, there is something deeply profound at the heart
Speaker 1: of his belief that speaks to us all. For Crowley,
Speaker 1: magic was really just an expression of the power of
Speaker 1: human will. That anybody, in a sense could conduct magic,
Speaker 1: providing they had a sufficient control of their own will.
Speaker 1: In two thousand and four, Karla Hoff, lead economist of
Speaker 1: the World Bank, and Priyanka Pandy of Pennsylvania University conducted
Speaker 1: an extraordinary experiment for the World Bank titled Belief Systems
Speaker 1: and Durable Inequalities, an Experimental investigation of Indian cast. The
Speaker 1: experiment asked three hundred and twenty one low cast and
Speaker 1: three twenty one high cast male junior high school students
Speaker 1: to perform a number of maze solving tasks under economic incentives.
Speaker 1: What the examiners found was nothing short of remarkable. When
Speaker 1: the individual's cast was not publicly announced, there were no
Speaker 1: cast differences in performance. However, when the test subject was
Speaker 1: required to publicly announce their cast, the number of mazes
Speaker 1: solved by low cast boys dropped by a dramatic twenty
Speaker 1: five percent. In other words, when the lower cast individuals
Speaker 1: were freed from the stigma or the label with which
Speaker 1: the surrounding environment and society had forced on them, they
Speaker 1: performed exactly the same as their higher cast appears, it's
Speaker 1: hard not to see this as a vindication of Crowley's beliefs,
Speaker 1: a glaring example of how often people can be made
Speaker 1: to feel they can only be the thing that they
Speaker 1: have been told they can be at the risk of
Speaker 1: sounding glib. Is a reminder that for me, no religion,
Speaker 1: political party, media outlet, or social movement is the arbiter
Speaker 1: of what is and what isn't right. A reminder that
Speaker 1: we should never be afraid to be who we want
Speaker 1: to be in spite of how we feel the world
Speaker 1: might want us to be. Crowley's do what Thou Wilt
Speaker 1: is a cry to look beyond social convention and the
Speaker 1: narrow definitions with which others might attempt to define us,
Speaker 1: encouraging each of us to exercise our right to determine
Speaker 1: who we are or should be on our own terms.
Speaker 1: If this series has been about anything in particular, it
Speaker 1: is to question what the truth really is. That the truth,
Speaker 1: and in a sense, the world can and will be manipulated.
Speaker 1: And I don't say this because I want to encourage
Speaker 1: it necessarily, but rather to encourage people to remain vigilant,
Speaker 1: to question everything, and not just to believe what you
Speaker 1: are told, and above all to fight for your truth,
Speaker 1: because whoever controls that story controls you. But I must
Speaker 1: stress this is not a denigration of expertise or an
Speaker 1: attempt to encourage the scourge of anti intellectualism that has
Speaker 1: been creeping into our society. If that later's report dismissing
Speaker 1: climate change is funded by a major petroleum conglomerate, you
Speaker 1: might want to think twice before quoting it to your friends.
Speaker 1: And when politicians start telling you to ignore the experts,
Speaker 1: it's worth considering just who might have the strongest ulterior motive.
Speaker 1: While writing this, I was reminded of a speech by
Speaker 1: the Sublime author David Foster Wallace that I believe has
Speaker 1: parallels with some of what Crowley represented. The speech, which
Speaker 1: I urge anyone who hasn't heard it seek out online,
Speaker 1: is Foster Wallace's commencement speech to students of Kenyon College
Speaker 1: in Ohio in the United States. His message reminds us
Speaker 1: to value the totally obvious every day, even in the
Speaker 1: smallest of ways, to try to see all perspectives, and
Speaker 1: to exercise control over what we think. It is a
Speaker 1: reminder that we have the power to choose what we
Speaker 1: pay attention to, and it is for us and us
Speaker 1: only to choose how we construct meaning from our experiences.
Speaker 1: As Foster Wallace says, if you really learn how to think,
Speaker 1: how to pay attention, then you'll know you have other options.
Speaker 1: It will actually be within your power to experience a crowded, hot, slow,
Speaker 1: consumer hell type situation as not only meaningful, but sacred
Speaker 1: on fire with the same force that lit the stars,
Speaker 1: love fellowship, the mystical oneness of all things deep down,
Speaker 1: not that that mystical stuff is necessarily true. The only
Speaker 1: thing That is capital t true is that you get
Speaker 1: to decide how you're going to see it. That is
Speaker 1: true freedom. You get to decide what has meaning and
Speaker 1: what doesn't. In short, you might say that true freedom
Speaker 1: is complete attention and awareness. For surely the alternative is unconsciousness.
Speaker 1: And yet there are, of course some who believe that
Speaker 1: the unconscious is the true consciousness. But that is another story.
Speaker 1: This episode concludes the first season of Unexplained, marking the
Speaker 1: final chapter in our present journey into the strange and mysterious.
Speaker 1: I will be back later in the year with a
Speaker 1: brand new season where I'll be attempting something a little
Speaker 1: more ambitious, so please look out online for announcements about that.
Speaker 1: I one to once again thank each and every one
Speaker 1: of you who has found the time to listen to
Speaker 1: the show for rating and reviewing, and especially or your
Speaker 1: incredible messages of support. Thank you. All elements of Unexplained
Speaker 1: are produced by me Richard McClain smith. Please subscribe and
Speaker 1: rate the show on iTunes, and feel free to get
Speaker 1: in touch with any thoughts or ideas regarding the stories
Speaker 1: you've heard on the show. Perhaps you have an explanation
Speaker 1: of your own you'd like to share. You can reach
Speaker 1: us online at Unexplained podcast dot com or on Twitter
Speaker 1: at Unexplained pod. Now. It's time to take care of yourself.
Speaker 1: To make time for you, Tell a doc gives you
Speaker 1: access to a licensed therapist to help you get back
Speaker 1: to feeling your best. Speak to a licensed therapist by
Speaker 1: phone or video anytime between seven am to nine pm
Speaker 1: local time, seven days a week. Teledoc Therapy is available
Speaker 1: through most insurance or employers. Download the app, or visit
Speaker 1: teledoc dot com. Forward slash Unexplained Podcast today to get started.
Speaker 1: That's teladoc dot com slash Unexplained Podcast