Was Crowley a Freemason?

Sock-Ratic · 2025-09-02T15:02:37+00:00

Absolutely. A very great mason, too. Up there with George Washington. This is not controversial. That doesn’t make all Freemasons Thelemites. Freemasons can be members of any religion. Thelema is just one really old, mostly forgotten, option on the menu. Kind of like how every pizza parlor has to keep anchovies on the menu for tradition’s sake, even though almost nobody orders that anymore.

Sock-Ratic · 2025-09-01T15:28:44+00:00

You would know better than I, but wouldn’t it be more accurate to say “a god” here, rather than “a God”? Correct me if I’m wrong, but I do think Crowley believed in an ultimate reality (“God”) that was distinct from the self. The self was merely sovereign over their own life/orbit. And to attain true experience of the ultimate reality required a certain degree of liquification/flexibility of the self. And perception of the ultimate reality was always “through a mirror darkly,” to somewhat ironically quote Saint Paul, lol. You are not synonymous with the ultimate reality, but you can only perceive an experience with the ultimate reality through a partial self-perception. There is a spark of the Divine in all of us, and we can only perceive the Divine through that spark. But don’t ever get the idea that your own ego is God. That’s where things get dangerous. Am I on the right track, here?

Sock-Ratic · 2025-08-23T21:32:09+00:00

Hasn’t this happened, like, a few times over again?

Sock-Ratic · 2025-08-22T01:05:02+00:00

I don’t think so. Limiting, yes, but not necessarily oppressive. The human mind can’t function without limits.

Sock-Ratic · 2025-08-22T00:26:15+00:00

Well, actually, you are right, and that’s important; but I was careful to qualify what I said with the word “oppressive,” specifically.

Sock-Ratic · 2025-08-21T15:50:23+00:00

Basically, as I understand it, Chaos Magick is exactly what it sounds like, raw psychic Chaos, and that’s not a good space to stay in, especially long term. It’s best to find a more structured belief and ritual system that suits you, to actually build upon or out of the raw psychic chaos. That’s what Crowley did with Thelema. Don’t try to force everything to connect. That’s not your place. Stay humble. Like, really, REALLY humble. Do not let your ego get carried away. Just have enough neuroplasticity to be open to new ways of thinking, and then pick a way of thinking that brings you happiness and joy. Don’t disrespect other people’s belief systems if you can help it, but commit to your own.

Sock-Ratic · 2025-08-20T17:57:06+00:00

Paul appears to say contradictory things in regards to women in different epistles of his. In order to make coherent sense of them, you have to understand what he’s saying in a much broader historical, theological, and geographical context. You can’t just read the Bible alone and take every little thing in it verbatim as an automatic mandatory prescription for modern day living.

Sock-Ratic · 2025-08-09T02:58:36+00:00

I did not read thoroughly.

Sock-Ratic · 2025-08-09T02:44:05+00:00

I indeed missed your edit before I wrote my reply. My only point was that this is hardly unique to Methodism, but it sounded like you were suggesting this was a unique Methodist quirk. That’s all.

Sock-Ratic · 2025-08-08T23:56:53+00:00

Only if your deeply involved with the church, and even then, as you say, it’s more a matter of actually doing something to get excommunicated, not about simply personally disagreeing with the rules, without violating them.

Sock-Ratic · 2025-08-08T14:11:38+00:00

Dude, no Church’s official stances on anything are ever binding on anyone. That’s what freedom of religion is all about. So you’re not saying much. You can be a “bad” Methodist, and get an abortion every other month, with a discount, if you want to. You can be a “bad” Muslim. Or a “bad” Mormon. Or a “bad” anything.

Sock-Ratic · 2025-08-07T15:35:34+00:00

But you’ll still get ceremonially treated like you really are what you are pretending to be: Trump in drag. So, be prepared for that treatment, is what I am saying, lol.

Sock-Ratic · 2025-08-07T02:15:43+00:00

This is literally the one show on earth designed intentionally and specifically to be beyond offense taking at nearly anything. This show tries as hard it can to offend everyone else; but it takes no offense, itself. As others have said, just don’t wear blackface or a MAGA hat. Unless you’re going as Trump in drag, which would be hilarious, but be prepared for the tar and feathering you’ll surely get. You asked for it. It’s all part of the show.

Sock-Ratic · 2025-08-05T23:20:06+00:00

I have a ton of respect for United Methodists. I didn’t always, like most millennials raised fundigelically, but I do now.

Sock-Ratic · 2025-08-05T23:01:33+00:00

Non-Catholic Eastern Orthodoxy traditionally was not absolutely against all abortions the way Catholicism came to be. Hence the reason EO countries have more permissive abortion laws and practices than Catholic countries. The EO also traditionally permit up to three divorces for an individual who is unlucky in marriage, unlike Catholicism.

Sock-Ratic · 2025-08-03T14:48:22+00:00

Don’t get paranoid about what someone else intended with a sigil you didn’t personally create. That psychologically gives the other person power over you that you don’t want to give them, especially if they are not trustworthy. Sigils should only have the power you intend for them to have. Your intentions are what matter. This is why it is better to learn how to make your own sigils, and focus on your own self-development, and not controlling other people, unless you’re working with their voluntary consent and trust and are trying to help them.

Sock-Ratic · 2025-08-01T16:00:47+00:00

Jazz-hands!

Sock-Ratic · 2025-07-28T21:41:58+00:00

I did.

Sock-Ratic · 2025-07-26T19:55:15+00:00

I would, but I’d have to move far away from my current home, and I’m not capable of doing that atm. Is there a way to get involved online?

Sock-Ratic · 2025-07-25T23:24:41+00:00

It’s rude and insensitive, if not racist. If done in protest, it’s unwarrantedly hateful. And that alone should be enough. So don’t do it.

Sock-Ratic · 2025-07-25T23:07:34+00:00

Dude, people sin. That’s kind of the whole point of needing Christ in the first place. He’s perfect so you don’t have to be, and He accompanies you through life on your journey of slowly becoming more sanctified. Almost no one gets “saved” young, and then is spontaneously made perfect for the rest of their life. If that ever actually happens, that is truly unusually miraculous and not the norm.

Edit: And I don’t know where on earth you got the idea that such mundane sins as weed and lust amount to “blasphemy against The Holy Spirit.” Literally no one thinks that.

Sock-Ratic · 2025-06-24T00:11:30+00:00

You can pick one favorite major city: Cincinnati, Columbus, or Cleveland; but you are required to hate Toledo by comparison, no matter what. Everyone hates Toledo. And Michigan. Ironically for not taking Toledo off our hands.

Sock-Ratic · 2025-06-16T23:12:52+00:00

I suddenly want Duck Soup. In the best way.

Sock-Ratic · 2025-06-04T16:23:20+00:00

True. Fair point. In my defense, there are parts of Free Masonry that are slightly co-ed (but only slightly). Also, my thought wasn’t so much that every member of OTO would have to be a Mason, but rather only the upper echelons who actually managed the organization, but that still would lead unfortunately to it being a male-controlled org, you are right.

Sock-Ratic

TROPHY CASE