The ‘Worst Man in the World’ Tells the Astounding Story of His Life in Articles by Aleister Crowley.

“In my textbook, Theory and Practice of Magick will be found the definition of the word magic, or magick, as I prefer to spell it, to distinguish the real from the fake.

It is ‘the science and art of causing change to occur in accordance with the will.'” [via, also]

Consider also:

  1. “If an Englishman of a generation or two ago could have been shown a little black box and told that if he turned a knob the President of the United States would talk to him, he would have laughed at the idea. If one could have convinced him that the voice was actually that of the President that Englishman would have been forced to the conclusion that the black box was magical. And yet we know now that the feat is quite possible, and that the box is only that kind of magic now revealed to the profane as ‘radio.'”
  2. Guy Fawkes Bandana Mask
  3. A Book of the Offices of Spirits
  4. “I have myself tested all these claims and found them true. There is no limit to the possibilities of an attainment.”
  5. “The sublimity of the idea enthralled me; it satisfied my craving for romance and poetry. I determined with my whole heart to make myself worthy to attract the notice of this mysterious brotherhood.”