BRIDGING THE GAP: THE CHALLENGE OF ACCESSIBLE MAGICK

Making Esoteric Practices Approachable Without Losing Their Depth

Magick, a potent and intricate practice, demands dedication, understanding, and respect.

The challenge we all face is how to make it more accessible without diluting its essence and power. This is not just a theoretical issue but a practical one that affects all of us, practitioners and educators alike. We are all striving to present the true depth of Thelema and related esoteric traditions, while also making them more accessible to a wider audience.

The Turin Incident

A well-known esoteric bookstore in Turin, Italy, provides a poignant example of this challenge. The Italian edition of my book, Il Manuale di Aleister Crowley, was swiftly dismissed based solely on its cover and editorial blurb.

This instance underscores a broader issue within the Italian esoteric community — a complex relationship with esoteric divulgation. The reaction was a stark reflection of the enduring divide between ‘serious practitioners ‘ and those advocating a more accessible approach to magick.

Italy’s esoteric scene has a storied history of division. On one side, we have the “serious practitioners,” often aligned with academic credentials and a rigid approach to esotericism. These people are the original Traditionalists, still worshipping at the altars of Evola and Guenon and sometimes daring to stray into the risqué with Blavatsky, Gurdjieff, and Steiner. Italian Thelemites always tried to find an uneasy truce with these types, often found on shared political perspectives. You didn’t think Right Wing Thelema started in MAGA USA, did you?

Conversely, those of us aiming to make magick more accessible frequently find ourselves lumped into the neopagan and witchy cauldron. This divide is particularly evident in the reception of Thelema. Traditionally presented to Italian audiences as a “serious” practice, Thelema often stands in stark opposition to what is seen as “neopagan nonsense” by its Italian practictioners.

Even respected and established authors like Lon Milo DuQuette and David Shoemaker have faced ridicule from ‘serious Italian Thelemites,’ often driven by the sectarianism of the Italian O.T.O., which has been deeply influenced by the corrupt Gunther A∴A∴ cult. This elitist attitude creates barriers, making it challenging to introduce a more inclusive and engaging perspective on Thelema and Crowley’s teachings. We must acknowledge these challenges and work towards bridging this divide.

I will never forget that one time, the head of the Italian O.T.O. brutally roasted a complete newbie on the Order’s internal forum for daring to post an early meme (this was back in 2013) of Aleister Meowley. This one:

Imagine having just joined the “serious Order” you only heard or read about (but you still know nothing about), and the main guy in your country publicly embarrasses you in front of your (perceived) peers for posting a meme.

Insanity, right? I mean, yes… but what if there IS something about giving these practices the sacredness they deserve?

The Dangers of Dilution

After five years of trying to concoct new ways to present Thelema and Crowley to a broader audience, I am left questioning whether it’s possible to do this without losing the core message. As I wrote in my book,

Initially, I wanted to call this book Thelema After Tears. That’s because you are likely to shed plenty of those if you try to approach this esoteric philosophy the way Aleister Crowley himself presented it to the public, especially in his magnum opus Liber ABA: Magick in Theory and Practice. Despite spending quite some time in the introduction insisting that his book was written for everyone, ‘… to help the Banker, the Pugilist, the Biologist, the Poet, the Navvy, the Grocer, the Factory Girl, the Mathematician, the Stenographer, the Golfer, the Wife, the Consul — and all the rest — to fulfil themselves perfectly, each in his or her own proper function’, the final result is something that requires years of experience and knowledge of the subject matter to truly be appreciated. The Edwardian prose doesn’t help, either.

Crowley’s writings underscore the significance of personal dedication and discovery in magick. Diluting these principles risks transforming a profound spiritual journey into a series of superficial steps that fail to deliver real growth or understanding. While it’s possible to start with practical exercises and rituals that provide a direct experience of magick, it’s crucial to understand that this is just the beginning of a journey that has no final destination, with the actual destination being the journey itself.

The emergence of Rogan-style podcasters and lockdown-era influencers has further complicated the challenge of accessible magick. They often present spiritual evolution as an easy path, which is misleading and ultimately detrimental. It’s disheartening to witness people being led to believe that deep spiritual attainment can be achieved with minimal effort. These individuals, convinced that they’re on the verge of enlightenment after a few podcast episodes, are often disillusioned when they fail to achieve tangible results.

The Need for Authentic Engagement

Authentic engagement with magick requires more than passive content consumption. It demands study, practice, and a willingness to dive deep into the esoteric texts and rituals. For instance, Crowley emphasises rigorous training and a thorough understanding of the rituals and their symbolic meanings. These texts are not for the casual reader; they require commitment and a genuine desire to learn.

Shameful confession, one of my own Chelas (or so it is rather incredibly reported to me) said recently: “Self-discipline is a form of Restriction.” (That, you remember, is “The word of Sin.”) Of all the utter rubbish! (Anyhow, he was a “centre of pestilence” for discussing the Book at all.) About 90 percent of Thelema, at a guess, is nothing but self-discipline. One is only allowed to do anything and everything so as to have more scope for exercising that virtue.

Aleister Crowley, Magick Without Tears

An anecdote from my own experience illustrates this point. I recently spent an afternoon explaining to an individual who had never engaged adequately with the practice or literature that achieving “Adept and K&C” (Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel) in two years was unrealistic. Despite my efforts, they couldn’t grasp the depth of what I was saying, a clear result of their reliance on shallow sources of information (and perhaps my complete failure at communicating my message better). Their own experience in American Regular Freemasonry, where one can be initiated and taken to the 32nd Degree of the Ancient and Accepted Rite in a mere weekend, also played a significant role in distorting their understanding. Discussing why something like this happens even in such an established organisation would require an article on its own, but it was necessary to point that out here, too.

Perhaps the issue also lies in the fact that many who peddled magick as easy conveniently glossed over that certain practices do rely on a solid basis of philosophy, literature, knowledge of languages, history, and the broader array of “conventional” sciences. It was always the case. Instead, many in recent years came to magick hoping to find a way to circumvent their own lack of schooling. This fundamental misunderstanding leads to frustration and stagnation, as actual progress in magick requires a well-rounded foundation that these quick-fix approaches fail to provide.

The onus remains on the individual to navigate their own way through the nonsense, the same as it ever was — but the uncritical glut of manifesting, coaching grifter, angel numbers, portals, and trite defanged versions of witchcraft, all leaking into, overlapping, and drowning out anything else, seems much worse than it used to.

Striking the Balance: The Key to Accessible Magick

While making magick more accessible is a noble goal, it must be done without compromising its depth and complexity. Watering down magical practices to appeal to a broader audience risks losing the essence of what makes these traditions powerful and transformative.

As practitioners and educators, we must strive to strike a balance — offering guidance that is both accessible and true to the nature of magick and the aims of Initiation.

Ultimately, Thelema and other esoteric traditions are paths of personal discovery and empowerment. They require dedication, study, and genuine engagement and simply can NOT be “consumed passively”. They are not, nor ever will be, mere “content”.