"Do What Thou Wilt"

"I have encountered a spirit that I believe to be an external being and who has made a deep impact on my life and my spiritual beliefs. However, beyond this, many rituals seeking contact with this H.G.A. more or less attune one's present mind with one's Higher Self, and thus help one better seek, follow, and attain True Will. Rarely does an individual truly conjure the presence of a true, external being through such works - at least insofar as I have observed."

So what you are saying is that you have experienced it externally but not found evidence that supports it truly existing outside of yourself? What you experience, if not shared by others, can still be an external perception of internal existences. Such instances can be seen in scrying for divination purposes. An individual can "see" and "sense" on the outside what is housed within through the vehicle (mirrored surface/fire/smoke etc.). But not everyone needs a vehicle if they can break down their own mental barriers. The difficulty with that, is once done, people that are not balanced believe all that they experience is really external and not projected perceptions from their inner self, and it ends up making them appear to be nutcases. It happens more often than not due to people self teaching themselves through books without proper guidance from at least one experienced mentor in person. The mind is a powerful thing and can not only be powerful but self-destructive.

Other individuals have encountered the spirit as well. Indeed, it was known to others well before I encountered it, and they used to avoid the place that it "haunted." However, after various events, it rather attached itself to me and is a positive influence in my life.

But yes, if I were the only one to have experienced it I would not be so quick to assume it was an external entity.

It's always good to have that validation. The way you worded it, I wasn't certain. I find it disturbing that most magick literature fails to mention the influence of the mind on perception because it is the most common misconception people make when going into spirit work. I feel that this is the mistake Crowley made. His mind colors his work intensely and I found that I needed to learn about him and his beliefs as a whole before being able to read between the lines and take in the meaning of his books. I will admit, he was incredibly knowledgeable and talented, but I also think he fell a little too far down the rabbit hole. :P

Unless I'm mistaken, he explored everything more or less so he could say if it was right or wrong to himself. It led him down that rabbit hole, as you say. And again, unless I'm mistaken, in his later years he lamented having gone down it so far.

I'm by no means a huge proponent of Crowley, I just wrote this post as a response to seeing his teachings so frequently taken out of context.

I concur. :)

It is true, his works are all clouded with his system and his knowledge, but his role was a teacher and all he could relay were his experiences.

He often told his students to find out themselves and not to agree with him, he stressed the importance of doing one's own work and arriving at your own conclusions.

A Thelemite is going to write from a Thelemic viewpoint, it would be impossible not to.