I was recently listening to an esoteric podcast and in the comments people were talking about some famous occultist and how they seemed to suffer from very serious health problems and bad habits (Bardon especially was mentioned and Crowley comes to my mind as well).. the idea is that magicians and spiritual teachers are somehow spiritually restrained where they can not heal themselves or fully apply their own teachings to themselves through some kind of karmic debt or what not. I have thought about it and contemplated on this but I am curious to hear other opinions on the subject. do you believe in such a phenomena? if so what are your thoughts on it?
Blessings, Thoralf.
Crowley was into some pretty dark stuff, he was always pushing the limits. But he had issues even before he got into magick.
I have thought of this idea before, that somehow occultists pay a 'price' and that's why you hear so many horror stories. But I just don't find this to be the case. Since even in Christian churches you hear of corrupted spiritual leaders.
We can't be healed if we willingly keep drinking poison.
Crowley was seriously ill as a child and this never went away. The doctor prescribed him heroin in his early twenties for asthma (popular practice back then). He got addicted and heroin has nasty effects on the body. He wasnt really into dark stuff as stated above- the media liked to portray him that way but he certainly made some life choices such as drug and alcohol use as well as smoking despite being an asthmatic
I dont think it has anything to do with magic just life choices and the cards you were dealt.
I find my health is quite strong and I have a practice that keeps it that way. But I am ill at the moment- sometimes it happens.
I would say that neither Bardon nor Crowley had magical restraints on them. They had personal issues which they never worked through and it plagued them for their entire lives. I can't really speak to Bardon as I have read very little of his work, but I have read a lot of Crowley. When you look at his life from a magical perspective it makes sense. He did a lot of spiritual work designed to raise his consciousness and open himself to higher forces and energies. As Hadit said, he had a heroin addiction and health problems. He also had psychological problems. His parents were emotionally abusive. His mother was the first to call him "The Beast" when he was about 6 I believe. They were strict Christians. His father was a minister, so that title would have been very insulting. He was also bisexual. In Victorian England this was almost as bad as being a murderer. He carried that stigma as well. Unfortunately he did not do the work to address these psychological issues. When you open yourself to that higher spiritual energy it intensifies what is there in your psyche. So, while it did raise him up it also raised up those issues and empowered them. When you understand this it becomes evident in his writings as he has intense and insightful teachings on magical topics mixed with what could be considered things that were almost insane. Point being, do the work on yourself before you try things that are going to hurt you.
