I was in Dublin on Monday for business, but also found some time for book shopping. I found a most interesting book in Yellow Brick Road entitled '"Aleister Crowley and Dion Fortune: The Logos of the Aeon and the Shankti of the Age"' by Alan Richardson.
"Despite being published by Llewellyn (who are more miss than hit) I have found this to be a most wonderful book that begins at their deaths and works backwards through their parallel biographies. He frames this in the light of a text written by Crowley in 1911 called Liber Thisarb "on the backwards review. In this backwards review Richardson explores the relationship between Crowley and Fortune, their exchanged letters, and their mutual ideas throughout their careers. It shows that Crowley and Fortune weren't so different after all, both working towards liberation (in their own ways), both deeply involved with the question of sex magick, both involved in the war effort, and both adepts of the Western tradition. He even presents correspondence between Fortune and Crowley that implied that both she, and other members of her Fraternity of Inner Light were quite accepting of the law of Thelema, and may even have been initiates of the A.'.A.'.This is a very different image of Fortune than one might glean from some of the more puritanical literature surrounding her, as well as the attitudes of some of her followers, but in essence it does not change who Dion Fortune was. This book was written by someone who is certainly more Fortune than Crowley, but in an open willingness to explore these two individuals and their interactions and individual missions brings a deeper appreciation of both. I highly recommend this work, especially to those with an interest in Dion Fortune in the Thelemic community. The pure image of Fortune as a master of light, and the image of Crowley as the wickedest man in the world gives way to a synthesis and complementary symbiosis in the work of these two great initiates, bringing new vistas of exploration in the Western tradition...
"Love is the law, love under will"