Why did Aleistor Crowley fail the Abramelin Ritual?
Posted: 09 Apr 2025 21:42
While I understand circumstances interrupted Crowley's attempt at the operation, I've often wondered why else he seemed to fail so crushingly.
For those who are unaware, the Abramelin Ritual is an invocation designed to create contact with the Holy Guardian Angel and to allow it to appear in material. It is notoriously difficult to complete and while traditionally it was seen as the beginning of a mystic's practice, it has now become to be seen as somethin only someone in the process of initiation can even attempt. The incompatibility of its extreme asceticism with the modern world also makes it difficult to complete. Its lengthy and strict set of rules combined with all of the above has garnered it a sort of infamy in modern scholarship as one of the most trying operations a novitiate can attempt.
What makes it the most fascinating was Crowley's failure. By all measures, he was regardless of his status as a fiend very competent at completing these sort of complex rituals. But what caused him to fail? I am curious of other's thoughts.
I believe first and foremost that his egoism made it impossible for him to properly complete. Crowley always had a sense of exceptionalism, and his pride is completely at odds with the nature of the ritual. This obviously joins with his substance abuse and flower addiction. It is no surprise to me that he wrote the Liber Samekh afterwards, in an attempt to cheat the ritual. I am unsure if the Liber Samekh is even capable of summoning the HGH.
I think its also telling that Crowley again proved that his ego was his ultimate failure when he faced Choronzon and deliberately allowed himself to become possessed by the demon. I do not believe this was a success for him at all and he should never have been awarded the grade of Magister Templi. I do not think that he ever truly banished Choronzon.
For those who are unaware, the Abramelin Ritual is an invocation designed to create contact with the Holy Guardian Angel and to allow it to appear in material. It is notoriously difficult to complete and while traditionally it was seen as the beginning of a mystic's practice, it has now become to be seen as somethin only someone in the process of initiation can even attempt. The incompatibility of its extreme asceticism with the modern world also makes it difficult to complete. Its lengthy and strict set of rules combined with all of the above has garnered it a sort of infamy in modern scholarship as one of the most trying operations a novitiate can attempt.
What makes it the most fascinating was Crowley's failure. By all measures, he was regardless of his status as a fiend very competent at completing these sort of complex rituals. But what caused him to fail? I am curious of other's thoughts.
I believe first and foremost that his egoism made it impossible for him to properly complete. Crowley always had a sense of exceptionalism, and his pride is completely at odds with the nature of the ritual. This obviously joins with his substance abuse and flower addiction. It is no surprise to me that he wrote the Liber Samekh afterwards, in an attempt to cheat the ritual. I am unsure if the Liber Samekh is even capable of summoning the HGH.
I think its also telling that Crowley again proved that his ego was his ultimate failure when he faced Choronzon and deliberately allowed himself to become possessed by the demon. I do not believe this was a success for him at all and he should never have been awarded the grade of Magister Templi. I do not think that he ever truly banished Choronzon.
