Overview

Israel Regardie is one of the most important figures in the twentieth century development of what many have termed the Western esoteric tradition, which normally refers to the synthesis accomplished by MacGregor Mathers within the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn during the 1890s. Among those who proceeded to explore and build among this tradition are Israel Regardie and Aleister Crowley. In this 1968 classic, Regardie prefaces and expands upon Crowley's discovery that drugs initiate and stimulate the mystical state, providing the reader with a backgroud to Crowley's The Herb Dangerous. The English poet and mystic, Aleister Crowley had produced a series of ten large magazine-like volumes with board covers entitled The Equinox. The intention was to publish a separate issue every Spring and Autumn for five years making ten numbers in all. Openly published in them were his superbly written essays on the psychology of hashish. These were his earliest overt admissions to the occasional use of hashish as a psychedelic agent. The first four issues of this periodical contained an important serial entitled The Herb Dangerous. The opening essay, The Pharmacy of Hashish, by an English chemist, E Whineray, was a clinical and chemical analysis of Cannabis Indica, whose first cousin is marijuana, Cannabis Sattiva. The second essay entitled The Psychology of Hashish was written by Oliver Haddo, one of the innumerable pseudonyms used by Aleister Crowley. It was succeeded in the third issue by The Poem of Hashish, written by Charles Baudelaire, and translated beautifully from the French by Crowley himself. The final installment of the serial consisted of selections from a fantastic piece of writing by H G Ludlow entitled The Hashish Eater. Easily a rival to de Quincy's Confessions of an Opium Eater, Ludlow's book was published by Harpers (New York, 1857). These four essays comprise the main body of this text.

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9781561845118

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The best book ever written on magick and it's relationship to psychoactive-drugs. Must read for all magicians and those interested in mind expansion thru psychoactive drugs. -- Dr. Christopher S. Hyatt --Satan's Kettle Aleister Crowley s The Psychology of Hashish, written a hundred years ago when drugs were legal, is an objective, comprehensive, and intelligent catalog of the drug s effects positive and the negative without the hysteria associated with modern propaganda from either side of the argument. Crowley writes: I have no use for hashish save as a preliminary demonstration that there exists another world attainable somehow. Regardie s extensive Introduction gives it all context within Crowley s magical system and the modern psychedelic movement. Highly recommended. -- --James Wasserman, author of Templar Heresy: A Story of Gnostic Illumination OTO News The role psychoactive plants have played in evolution of human consciousness cannot be overstated. Their use in conjunction with initiatory and religious practices can be traced to prehistoric times. At the dawn of the twentieth century, Aleister Crowley joined the handful of bold western consciousness pioneers who would force open the doors of perception. Their eyes were opened, and they became as gods! -- --Lon Milo DuQuette Author of The Enochian World of Aleister Crowley; and Ask Baba-Lon --93 Magazine

The best book ever written on magick and it's relationship to psychoactive-drugs. Must read for all magicians and those interested in mind expansion thru psychoactive drugs. -- Dr. Christopher S. Hyatt --Satan's Kettle The role psychoactive plants have played in evolution of human consciousness cannot be overstated. Their use in conjunction with initiatory and religious practices can be traced to prehistoric times. At the dawn of the twentieth century, Aleister Crowley joined the handful of bold western consciousness pioneers who would force open the doors of perception. Their eyes were opened, and they became as gods! -- --Lon Milo DuQuette Author of The Enochian World of Aleister Crowley; and Ask Baba-Lon --93 Magazine Aleister Crowley s The Psychology of Hashish, written a hundred years ago when drugs were legal, is an objective, comprehensive, and intelligent catalog of the drug s effects positive and the negative without the hysteria associated with modern propaganda from either side of the argument. Crowley writes: I have no use for hashish save as a preliminary demonstration that there exists another world attainable somehow. Regardie s extensive Introduction gives it all context within Crowley s magical system and the modern psychedelic movement. Highly recommended. -- --James Wasserman, author of Templar Heresy: A Story of Gnostic Illumination OTO News

Author Information

Israel Regardie (1907-1985) was an Adept of the Golden Dawn and he was one of the greatest exponents of the Western Esoteric Tradition of the 20th century. He was also an initiate of Aleister Crowley's Order of the A.·. A.·., and he was a IXth degree initiate of Crowley's O.T.O. It was his aim to preserve the teachings and work of the Golden Dawn and Aleister Crowley. His success in this task has profoundly influenced occult thought. From the age of 21, Regardie worked as Crowley's personal secretary. During this period, until their bitter parting, Regardie was one of the few who knew Crowley well. He was one of the few who were qualified to provide first-hand, personal insight into the character and personality of one of the major figures in Western Magick. In addition to his extensive writings, Regardie practiced as a chiropractor and as a neo-Reichian therapist. He taught Psychiatry at the Los Angeles College of Chiropractic and contributed articles to many Psychology magazines. Regardie's most profound work, The Complete Golden Dawn System of Magic, is a 1200 page book published by New Falcon Publications; a company he founded with his student Dr. Christopher Hyatt. The book is currently available in three different editions: a) 1200 page hard bound with index; b) eBook with the same material; and c) a new portable edition as a soft cover. Today Regardie's work is being preserved and perpetuated by New Falcon Publications and the Israel Regardie Foundation.

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