Meet Aleister Crowley and Oprah Winfrey

Last night, I had a few beers and went off on a rant about Oprah and 'The Secret'. You would think I would be done with the topic, that I would have gotten it out of my system but, sadly, I have not. It seems I still have a few beers left in the ice box. Last night my pet peeve was the notion that any of this stuff was 'secret' and I expressed my dislike with the way this material has been marketed.

I also said that it was largely 'harmless' since I never waste a lot of time and energy arguing against any philosophy that promotes the benefit of 'positive thinking'. I can't argue too hard, since I believe sincerely that it is better to be a positive person than a negative person. Also, deep down inside, I actually subscribe to a lot of the concepts that are regurgitated in 'The Secret' so my critique has to be a bit more complex than simply saying 'hey, that's a load of New Age bullshit.'

My follow up post today focuses on just how completely wrong the scam artists behind 'The Secret' have gotten it. What I completely failed to address yesterday is the fact that the publishers of this material, and its most recent cheerleader Oprah Winfrey, are promoting a corrupted version of 'The Mysteries'.

In fact, the version they are promoting has only one strong adherent and that is Aleister Crowley. I am not, personally, a big fan of Crowley. I figure, if somebody promotes a spiritual philosophy then they ought to, at the least, lead a life that I might admire or respect. Admiration and respect are rather the last things I think about when I consider the life of Aleister Crowley.

Now, let me get to the heart of the matter. In Freemasonry, and many other versions of The Mysteries, we are taught that above and beyond anything else, to reach spiritual enlightment one must first show devotion to deity and, second, practice charity. In says simply that besides honoring God our number one duty is to express charity to our fellow man and to care for the needs of our brother above and beyond any other duty. I need not recite all of the Freemason ritual on this forum, anyone can read it online if they care, but this is the heart of our devotion.

WE DO NOT WISH FOR MATERIAL THINGS!

We do not teach that desire, acquisition, obsession, or any other focus on our personal gain is, in any way, a path to spiritual advancement.

Period!

Meanwhile, 'The Secret' says that if you use the 'Laws of Attraction' and wish hard enough you can get any material gain you might want in your life. Today, doing some web searches, I stumbled accross numerous posts on message forums where the 'take-away' concept was just that.

In this way we find Oprah in leauge with the famed magician Aleister Crowley, a foul human being in my personal opinion, who after a life time of embroiling himself in occult thought finally came to the conclusion that there was only one rule that each human spirit must follow.

"Do what thou whilst shall be the whole of the law."

In short, do whatever the hell you want, to achieve whatever you want, and that is your only compulsion to achieve power in this life.

Many ammend, in their mind at least, to have the statement read "Do what thou whilst shall be the whole of the law; so long as you harm no other."

Now, it doesn't originally say that, but I can grant it is somewhat implied. However, where in this philosophy does it compell us to go good in the world? To dedicate ourselves to others rather than ourselves?

I am extremely disturbed that Oprah has adopted this perverted version of 'The Mysteries' and is promoting it in the mainstream media as a way to get yourself a new car, of a hundred dollar bill lying on the road or any other poor excuse for energy transfer. How sad and pathetic in my opinion.

I know that Oprah does do some good things in the world. Then again, she has entire episodes of her show devoted to showering material wealth on others. It's not like she is even doing that much of a charitable act since these gifts are usually provided as promotional items by advertisers. And, even if it was her own money, where is the self-sacrifice? How about Oprah donate millions of dollars *anonymously*. That sounds much more like something a follower of the real 'secret' might do.

Is Oprah's obsession with material wealth and aquisition something we should commend? Is her version of 'Do What Thou Whilst Shall be the Whole of the Law" any better than Crowley's?

Are the authors of this book helping mankind by telling them that the great spiritual secret that has been held for millenia is about acquiring material wealth, fame, and personal gain?

The mysteries do have a goal of elevating mankind, but we do it one person at a time. Not by going onto national television and telling the audience that if they 'wish hard enough' a new car will magickly show up in their driveway.

There are two basic types of Magick practice. High magick and low magic. I'm afraid to say that Oprah has been hoodwinked into only seeing the coarser of the two.

Low-Magick is the kind espoused by 'The Secret' as well as 'Tony Robbins', 'Aleister Crowley' and others. Low magick is that crass form which attempts to transform will into material changes in reality; usually for selfish means. I need a new car, a bigger house, or more money. Just wish and it shall be yours.

High-Magick, is when the will is transormed for the benefit of humanity in the form of spirtual growth. It is expressed through charity, love, and brotherhood for your fellow man.

I'm sad to see Oprah has been duped by this crass commercialization as packaged in the form of 'The Secret'. I hope she will realize that the power of positive thinking has a higher purpose than a new pair of blue suede shoes.

In closing I will include this link to a blog post that comes a bit closer to explaining the concept of 'The Secret'.