Aleister Crowley (1875–1947) was an English occultist, ceremonial magician, poet, and mountaineer who founded the religious philosophy of Thelema. He called himself “the Great Beast 666” and embraced a provocative public image that earned him the tabloid label “the wickedest man in the world.” Crowley was a member of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn before breaking away to develop his own system, heavily influenced by his 1904 Cairo experience where he said a spiritual entity named Aiwass dictated The Book of the Law. The central tenet of Thelema is “Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law. Love is the law, love under will,” which Crowley interpreted as discovering and following one’s True Will. He wrote extensively on mysticism, yoga, and magic — which he spelled “magick” to distinguish it from stage illusion — including works like Magick in Theory and Practice and The Book of Thoth. His influence shows up all over 20th-century counterculture, from rock musicians to modern occult movements, even though he died in poverty and relative obscurity in Hastings, England.
The rise of the horror genre provided a particularly fertile ground for Crowley’s influence to manifest. Films that explored themes of witchcraft, devil worship, and demonic possession often drew upon the popular imagery associated with figures like Crowley. While he may not have been explicitly named, the archetype of the charismatic, dangerous occultist, the master of dark arts, owes a significant debt to the media’s sensationalized portrayal of Crowley.
Los Angeles in the midst of the largest extinction event in thousands of years. Billions worldwide will die. Millions will die in North American. #ApocalypticFiction #Readers #Books #BookLovers #WGSweet #EarthsSurvivors
Chronicles from the Wastelands 01 The collapse had been a swift, brutal amputation. The surge, a cataclysmic event that had not only silenced our digital world but had also plunged vast swathes of the planet into darkness and disarray. The immediate aftermath had been a blur of panic, of desperate attempts to comprehend the incomprehensible. The abstract threats of cyber warfare or economic collapse had been replaced by the terrifyingly concrete realities of starvation, disease, and the primal struggle for survival. In the early days, the focus had been singular: survive. Find food, find water, find shelter. My technical skills, so vital in the old world, were largely useless. I learned to scavenge, to ration, to move with a stealth born of necessity. I learned the silence of the wilderness, the language of rustling leaves and snapping twigs. But survival, I was discovering, was not an end in itself. It was a means to an end, a precarious foundation upon which something more must be built. It was a recognition that to truly survive, I needed to do more than just exist; I needed to be. #Dystopian #Apocalyptic #Epic #Survival #Amazon #Kindle #KU #Horror https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0G8VDRW4Chttps://youtu.be/xEO0R-NsW9Q
The prison uniform, now discarded in a shadowed alcove, lay like a discarded skin, a molted shell of a former self. It was a stark visual representation of his transformation, a physical shedding of the past. #Prison #crime #Thriller #Drama
Symphony of Shadows Charles Block has escaped his holding cell, and no one seems able or willing to find him…
The pattern of Block’s previous criminal activities revealed a clear progression. He started with smaller, albeit complex, financial crimes, gradually escalating to more ambitious heists that required intricate planning and the manipulation of multiple systems. The move towards physical logistics, as evidenced by his presumed involvement with the Crimson Syndicate, was a logical, albeit terrifying, evolution. It was the ultimate expression of his ability to control and manipulate the flow of resources, to operate with impunity in the arteries of global commerce. Corbin felt a chill crawl up his spine. Block wasn’t just a thief; he was a logistical architect of illicit trade, a man who could render entire borders invisible.
Crime #KOBO #DellGeorge #Thriller #Drama Symphony of Shadows eBook by Dell George – EPUB
The prison uniform, now discarded in a shadowed alcove, lay like a discarded skin, a molted shell of a former self. It was a stark visual representation of his transformation, a physical shedding of the past. #Prison #crime #Thriller #Drama
My head swam. I tried to focus, to piece together what had happened, but my memories were fragmented, blurred like a badly scratched photograph. Images flickered – a flash of bright light, the deafening roar of something immense, the sickening crunch of collapsing structures…and then, nothing. Only the darkness before the agonizing awakening in this hellish landscape.
The ‘Sea Wanderer’ was more than just a vessel; it was their home, their adventure capsule, a testament to years of planning, saving, and dreaming. It was a forty-foot sloop, built to withstand the rigors of extended ocean voyages, her hull a sturdy, reassuring blue, her sails crisp and white against the deepening azure of the sky.A few weeks into their ocean cruise life for the Robinsons takes an ominous turn when a sudden storm wreaks havoc on the ship and family…
Author Dell Sweet books at iTunes. The Nation series, The Earth’s Survivors Life Stories and more… #DellSweet #Apple #iTunes #Readers #Books Dell Sweet on Apple Books
The Small town of Glennville New York is a nice quiet place to settle down and raise your family. At least that is What Sheriff Kyle Stevens thought when he retired after being a detective in New York City for twenty years. And Glennville, for the most part was quiet. Respectful. Safe. Until the day Kyle’s deputy found the body of a young girl out by the old, abandoned school building…
#Mystery #Murder #Crime #DellSweet #KU #DellSweet
Small Town Murder: A Kyle Stevens Murder Mystery (Glennville Book 12) Kindle Edition… #Mystery #Murder #Crime #DellSweet #KU #DellSweet
by W. G. Sweet (Author) #Zombie #Horror #Kindle #Amazon
John watched as Bear helped the girls move their sleeping bags and back packs over to a clear space on the factory floor. He didn’t see what Madison saw in Cammy, but it was her choice, and she wouldn’t get a second chance with him. He came close to slamming his fist into the cement floor.
Not frustrated at all, he told himself. Not even a little.
He was about to roll out his sleeping bag and go to sleep, maybe tomorrow would have a different spin, he thought briefly, when Bear walked over and dropped down in a squat next to him. He moved so fast and easy for a big man. “Hey,” John was startled into saying.
Bear smiled. “Didn’t mean to startle you… Thought you saw me coming.”
“No… No, you didn’t startle me at all,” John lied.
Bear nodded. He cleared his throat a little. “Maddy and I talked a little… This place is safe, but it isn’t where we need to be, so we thought we’d light out… Tomorrow… Jersey, maybe further, either way, out of the city is the goal.”
“Maddy?” John asked. “So it’s like that.”
Bear kept the smile on his face. “Listen,” he leaned close, too close, but it was a tactic he reserved for situations just like this back in the old world. “She wants to go… With Cammy,” he spread his hands, huge hands, “It is what it is, man.”
John shook his head. “I don’t see it. It’s a new world… Who knows how many of us may have died off… If you look at New York alone it’s got to be millions.”
Bear nodded, not really sure where John was going.
John leaned close. “So how do you build a population back up if the women are only with the women?”
Bear shook his head. “You know what I said to Maddy a few moments ago?” He didn’t wait for John to answer. “She said something about the way you have a tried to impose upon her that she needs a man, and I said, ‘What a dick.’ That’s what I said, ‘What a dick.”
John just glared from under his lowered brows.
“Grow up, John, or go your own way, but as for those two?” He looked over at Madison and Cammy. “Don’t mess with them anymore… I understand your thoughts might have gotten messed up… It’s tough times like this that can do that, but they are their own, not your own.” He patted one huge hand against John’s shoulder, smiled and then stood and walked away…