Richard Kaczynski - Perdurabo, Revised and Expanded Edition: The Life of Aleister Crowley

The outlines of Crowleys life are well known, but Richard Kaczynskis monumental Perdurabosubstantially revised and expanded from its first publication in 2002fills in endless details.

Phil Baker, The Times Literary Supplement

In this revised edition of Perdurabo, Richard Kaczynski takes readers through the Beasts amazing life and work in a sympathetic and compelling fashion. It is an effective combination of erudition and accessibility that will remain the standard biography of Crowley for years to come.

Henrik Bogdan, PhD, author of Western Esotericism and Rituals of Initiation

This is not only the most carefully researched, detailed, and informative biography of Crowley yet written but also a remarkable insight into the nature of magic itself.

Ronald Hutton, author of The Triumph of the Moon and Blood and Mistletoe: The History of the Druids in Britain

If youre a collector of Crowley biographies, this is an essential addition to your collection. If you can only afford one Crowley biography, this is the one to get.

Sabazius, X, National Grand Master, Ordo Templi Orientis, USA

The blurb on the front of the dust jacket [of the new edition] says: The definitive biography of the founder of modern magick. Having read the first edition of Perdurabo, and every other biography of this controversial figure, I readily agree.

Oz Fritz, music producer and engineer

This new edition is essential reading for anyone wanting to understand the Great Beast.

Clive Harper, author of Notes towards a Bibliography of Austin Osman Spare

Richard Kaczynskis Perdurabo: The Life of Aleister Crowley is a meticulously researched biography of a person whose reputation has been distorted by rumors and misinformation. Crowley will probably remain a controversial figure for many, but the readers of Perdurabo will be in a position to assess his life and work based on evidence, and Kaczynski should be congratulated for providing it in abundance.

Gordan Djurdjevic, sessional lecturer, Simon Fraser University

Perdurabo is the result of many years of painstaking research. Dr. Kaczynski has been able to uncover a host of previously unexplored sources that cast new light on Aleister Crowleys life and works. It is an achievement that deserves praise, and I am sure the book will be an indispensable reference for scholars and students for many years to come.

Marco Pasi, assistant professor at the Center for the History of Hermetic Philosophy and Related Currents, University of Amsterdam, and author of Aleister Crowley and the Temptation of Politics

Praise for the first edition:

Several recently-published biographies of Crowley do justice, for the most part, to his life and works. But their offerings now stand like skeletal frames of unfinished houses next to Kaczynskis magnificently constructed edifice. Every brick is set in place with the mortar of meticulous research and insight. Thank you, Dr. Kaczynski. Ive waited thirty-five years for this.

Lon Milo DuQuette, author of The Magick of Aleister Crowley

At long last, the world has a balanced and readable biography that reflects how magick shaped every facet of Aleister Crowleys life. And Dr. Kaczynski doesnt dismiss magick as humbug or mumbo-jumbo but validates it as a legitimate method of spiritual development meriting serious study.

Christopher S. Hyatt, PhD, author of Undoing Yourself

Dr. Kaczynski brings two unique qualifications to this massive biography of the prophet and master of magick Aleister Crowley: he is both a university professor who moves comfortably in research institutions (and the masses of data contained therein) and a practicing adept of [Crowleys] Thelemic magical system. This is a magnificent book and is highly recommended.

James Wasserman, author of The Militia of Heaven and Art and Symbols of the Occult.

Richard Kaczynski uses a novelists touch to make this exceptionally well-researched book read like an adventure story. For the serious student of ceremonial magick or anyone curious about the truth behind all those weird stories, its essential reading. Perdurabo is bound to become the definitive biography of Aleister Crowley.

NewWitch magazine

Copyright 2002, 2010 by Richard Kaczynski. All rights reserved. No portion of this book, except for brief review, may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwisewithout the written permission of the publisher. For information contact North Atlantic Books.

Published by
North Atlantic Books
P.O. Box 12327
Berkeley, California 94712

Cover photo courtesy of Ordo Templi Orientis
Cover design by Paula Morrison

Quotations from the works of Aleister Crowley Ordo Templi Orientis, International Headquarters, Postfach 33 20 12, D-14180 Berlin, Germany.

Perdurabo: The Life of Aleister Crowley is sponsored by the Society for the Study of Native Arts and Sciences, a nonprofit educational corporation whose goals are to develop an educational and cross-cultural perspective linking various scientific, social, and artistic fields; to nurture a holistic view of arts, sciences, humanities, and healing; and to publish and distribute literature on the relationship of mind, body, and nature.

North Atlantic Books publications are available through most bookstores. For further information, visit our website at www.northatlanticbooks.com or call 800-733-3000.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Kaczynski, Richard.
Perdurabo : the life of Aleister Crowley / Richard Kaczynski. Rev. and expanded ed.
p. cm.
eISBN: 978-1-58394-576-6
1. Crowley, Aleister, 18751947. 2. OccultistsGreat BritainBiography. 3. Authors, English20th centuryBiography. I. Title.
BF1598.C7K33 2010
130.92dc22
[B]

2010014721

v3.1

The twenty-first century has witnessed a major reassessment of Aleister Crowleys place in modern culture, making this updated biography most timely. Evidence of Crowleys popularity is ubiquitous. BBC Twos 2002 poll for the 100 Greatest Britons ranked Crowley at seventy-three, just ahead of Robert the Bruce; since then, his portrait has been added to Londons National Portrait Gallery. When Rolling Stone asked Paul McCartney what accounts for the Beatles enduring popularity, he answered:

I think its basically magic. There is such as thing as magic, and the Beatles were magic.

It depends on what you believe life is. Life is an energy field, a bunch of molecules. And these particular molecules formed to make these four guys, who then formed into this band called the Beatles and did all that work. I have to think that was something metaphysical. Something alchemic. Something that must be thought of as magicwith a k.

Actor Robert Downey Jr. offered a remarkable description of how he prepared for his Iron Man audition through a combination of ceremonial magic and compulsive rehearsal of every possible delivery of his lines: