THE OCCULT REVIEW

London, England

May 1909

(PAGE 292)

PERIODICAL LITERATURE.

The Equinox. The Official Organ of the A.A. The Review of Scientific Illuminism. London: Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent & Co., Ltd. Vol I, No. 1. March 21, 1909. Price 5s.

The genius of this book, Mr. Aleister Crowley, seems at the first blush to be the Panurge of mysticism, and to those who have regarded with delight the amazing adventures of the brilliant Rabelaisian figure, such a modern prototype would appear in anything but an unamiable light. At all events, Mr. Crowley in this new venture plays many parts, and is at once a mystic, a sardonic mocker, an utterer of many languages, a writer of magnificent prose interspersed with passages of coarse persiflage, and also a philosopher of not a little penetration and power of analysis. The expert alone will be able to judge of the scope and meaning of the mystical doctrines and practices contained in this volume, but to the uninformed lay-reader the main thesis would appear to be the necessary passage of the soul through al experience, including the depths of iniquity, in order to rise to the serene heights of balanced wisdom and superior life. It is almost impossible sometimes to avoid the thought that we are the victims of an elaborate joke, but we put aside the thought as laying us under a charge of lack of subtlety. The most striking piece in the book, not excepting Mr. Frank Harris; admirable short story “The Magic Glasses,” is “The Temple of Solomon the King.” It is a mingling of acute criticism and glowing imagination, shot through with strange esoteric doctrine. Though the imaginative portion is not all on the same level, it may be said that there is no one now writing in the English language who can command a greater splendor of style. Space does not allow comment upon all the unusual features of this publication, which may be recommended to any one who has a spark of intellectual curiosity.

B.P. O’N.