The Book of Lies

The Book of Lies is one of Aleister Crowley's most important works. It is a collection of 91 poems in which the reader encounters Kabbalistic riddles, rich symbolism, humor, allusions and mystical overtones. Each poem is accompanied by an Interpretative Commentary that sometimes offers answers to the mysteries of the verses and sometimes tries to hide them again by raising new questions. Thus, its pages include poetic descriptions of transcendental states of consciousness, allegories concerning the initiatory formulas of the Age of Horus, Kabbalistic analyses, explanations on Tarot cards, and even more specialized magical practices hidden in plain sight. Thus the Book of Lies becomes one of Crowley's most representative works. The student of his work will discover within it the keys to the magical theory and practice of the Great Beast and may be able through reading to better understand other points of his work. But mostly he will discover his own spiritual wealth as he processes what he reads. Sometimes with laughter, sometimes with reflection and sometimes with confusion, the Book of Lies can act as a Mirror in which one can only see aspects and perspectives of oneself. In this Mirror, however, the image is constantly changing, always posing new questions that invite the Journey to the Inside.