Introduction
Aleister Crowley's foundational work "The Theory of Magick" from Liber ABA (Book 4) outlines the nature of magick and provides a theoretical framework upon which the magician can connect with Universal energy and perform magick. While I was studying the Introduction to Part III of Book ABA and the theory of Magick, I came across chapter 14 in Part III titled “Of the Consecrations: With an account of the Nature and Nurture of the Magical Link.” This chapter within Liber ABA addresses the nature of the link which connects theory and practice.
The detail and clarity of the exposition in chapter 14 made the theoretical material more accessible. The commonplace examples Crowley uses to describe and illustrate the concept of a magical link between one’s willful intent and the object of the operation were practical and easy to identify with. And the similarities between the theory of magick and the requirements for making the magical link were remarkable. As I re-read and meditated on them, they echoed against each other in really interesting ways.
In this essay, I will share these two works and suggest ways to put that knowledge into practice. Please note that page references below are from “the Blue Brick”, Magick Liber ABA, Weiser 2nd edition, 2000.
The Theory of Magick - Selections from the Intro to Part III of Liber ABA
Crowley’s definition of magick and its postulate are the foundation of modern ceremonial magical theory. Of the 28 theorems listed in Book 4, the nine listed below were selected as ones which I feel are most relevant to the discussion of the magical link. While I don’t go into detail for why each one below relates to the magical link, it should soon become clear as we dig into the subject, and I am putting them here for reference.
Definition: Magick is the Science and Art of causing Change to occur in conformance with Will.
Postulate: ANY required Change may be effected by the application of the proper kind and degree of Force in the proper manner through the proper medium to the proper object.
Theorems:
1. Every intentional act is a Magical Act.
2. Every successful act has conformed to the postulate.
3. Every failure proves that one or more requirements of the postulate have not been fulfilled.
4. The first requisite for causing any change is a thorough qualitative and quantitative understanding of the conditions.
5. The second requisite of causing any change is the practical ability to set in right motion the necessary forces.
10. Nature is a continuous phenomenon, though we do not know in all cases how things are connected.
13. Every man is more or less aware that his individuality comprises several orders of existence, even when he maintains that his subtler principles are merely symptomatic of the changes in his gross vehicle. A similar order may be assumed to extend throughout nature.
16. The application of any given force affects all the orders of being which exist in the object to which it is applied, whichever of those orders is directly affected.
18. He may attract to himself any force of the Universe by making himself a fit receptacle for it, establishing a connection with it, and arranging conditions so that its nature compels it to flow toward him.
The Nature and Nurture of the Magical Link
In chapter 64 of Magick Without Tears, Crowley writes:
“Obviously, much must be left to your own common sense; the one technical point on which I insist above all others is the Magical Link. You must lay to heart Magick, Chapter XIV and never forget one detail. More failure comes from neglect of this than from all other causes put together. Most of the qualities that you need are inborn; all the material is to your hand; and to develop them is a natural process, equally your birthright. But the making of the Link is an intellectual, even mechanical, task; success depends on purely objective considerations.”
From the above quote, we gather that Crowley felt the magical link to be supremely important. The reference here to Magick (Book 4) is provocative. It is chapter 14 in Part III of Liber ABA titled “Of the Consecrations: With an account of the Nature and Nurture of the Magical Link”. The first part of the chapter is a clear explanation of consecration: what it is, how it works, and the part it plays in ritual. The second part deals with the magical link. One may rightly wonder why these two topics are placed together in the same chapter. Crowley rarely did anything without intention, and that connection is worthy of additional meditation and study.
Chapter 14’s discussion of the magical link begins with some musings on what a magical act is, and Crowley sets out the definition of a magical operation as being “any event in Nature which is brought to pass by Will.” We find that this is comparable to the Definition of Magick from the Introduction. Crowley then adds, “We must not exclude potato-growing or banking from our definition.” This is a humorous reminder that magick can be found in commonplace everyday life, and it also is a direct reference to the first Theorem in the Theory of Magick. All actions performed with intention and will are magical acts, including our 9 to 5 jobs and normal everyday activities.
Next, Crowley details an amusing example of a magical act that illustrates the magical link.
“Let us take a very simple example of a Magical Act: that of a man blowing his nose. What are the conditions of the success of the Operation? Firstly, that the man's Will should be to blow his nose; secondly, that he should have a nose capable of being blown; thirdly, that he should have at command an apparatus capable of expressing his spiritual Will in terms of material force, and applying that force to the object which he desires to affect. His Will may be as strong and concentrated as that of Jupiter, and his nose may be totally incapable of resistance; but unless the link is made by the use of his nerves and muscles in accordance with psychological, physiological, and physical law, the nose will remain unblown through all eternity.” p. 215
This example contains all of the elements of the Postulate in the Theory of Magick.
Crowley then goes on to lament how over the years magicians have neglected to document any details about the magical link. Christian Science with its beliefs in mental healing, the Goetic Evocations, and even Eliphas Levi’s writings are held up as examples where the magical link is either absent, ignored, or is silently assumed to be understood by the reader.
The Astral Light as described by Levi is discussed in quite a bit of detail, along with the qualities of the astral world. Crowley points out that the laws in the astral world are quite different from those in the physical world, but he insists that they are still laws that must be understood and obeyed.
“Two and two make four in the Astral as rigorously as anywhere else. The distance of one’s Magical target and the accuracy of one’s Magical rifle are factors in the success of one’s Magical shooting in just the same way as at Bisley. The law of Magical gravitation is as rigid as that of Newton.” p. 218
Crowley then lists off some situations where a magician may encounter success or failure.
“You cannot produce a thunderstorm unless the materials exist in the air at the time, and a Magician who could make rain in Cumberland might fail lamentably in the Sahara. One might make a talisman to win the love of a shop-girl and find it work, yet be baffled in the case of a countess; or vice versa. One might impose one’s Will on a farm, and be crushed by that of a city; or vice versa.” p. 218
What is he getting at here? Why would one attempt be successful and another fail? The answer lay in the Postulate and in Theorems 2 & 3 & 4. Having a true understanding of the conditions required and conforming to the Postulate will lead to success. Failure comes from an imperfection in one or more the elements of the Postulate.
Next he gets closer to the point with the magical link. Using the reception of the Book of the Law as an example Crowley explains how even the Word of the Aeon was useless without it somehow being applied to mankind. The magical link in this case was printing the words on paper and publishing it to a wide audience. Still, Crowley notes the imperfections in the execution of this monumental task, and says not for the last time:
“In every operation of Magick the link must be properly made.” p. 219
A couple more examples allude to the nature of the magical link.
To win the love of an empress, consecrate a letter expressing our Will and send it to her, or use a personal item as a token to affect her aura
To will the death of a sinner, use the force of hatred to affect the astral, or a dagger to the heart
Also, some key phrases here are helpful:
“For material ends, it is better to have material means.”
“One must give one’s hate a bodily form of the same order as that which one’s enemy has taken for his manifestation.”
This plays on the concept of orders of being and the relative position of the magician to the object of the operation. Success requires that one work in the same order of being, in the same medium upon which you wish to cause the change, i.e. a spiritual change in the spirit, a mental change in the mind, or a material change in the physical.
In Qabalistic terms: Yetziratic change is made in Yetzirah or Assiatic change in Assiah.
Crowley uses the game of chess as an example of a magical link that enables the contest between two minds. The “battle” takes place in the mental realm using the abstract rules of chess, while the physical link that makes such a contest possible is the board and pieces.
These descriptions of orders of being echo what is laid out in the 13th and 16th theorems.
The examples are all clues that point to the link without calling it out. Crowley even admits that it is impossible to detail every possible situation. And since (according to the first theorem) all intentional acts are magical, the possibilities are endless. He compares it to giving a safe-cracker general instructions on opening a safe versus providing a complete list of all the combinations to every safe in the city. Still, Crowley advises:
“Remember that Magick includes all acts soever. Anything may serve as a Magical weapon. To impose one’s Will on a nation, for instance, one’s talisman may be a newspaper, one’s triangle a church, or one’s circle a Club. To win a woman, one’s pantacle may be a necklace; to discover a treasure, one’s wand may be a dramatist’s pen, or one’s incantation a popular song. Many ends, many means: It is only important to remember the essence of the operation, which is to will its success with sufficiently pure intensity, and to incarnate that will in a body suitable to express it, a body such that its impact on the bodily expression of the idea one wills to change is to cause it to do so.” p. 220.
The final sentence there (emphasis is mine) is a clear explanation of the magical link, end-to-end.
Magical Link and the Planes
Crowley classifies the magical link into the three categories outlined below.
One plane & one person (the self)
This occurs when a person is bringing change to their situation, and it can be simply described as doing so in conformity with their own Will. The magical link exists by default in this situation. No extra devices are needed -- only the self and the Will.
Examples that fall into this category are things like having devotion to a cause, breaking a habit, overcoming a personal fear, initiation, and Knowledge and Conversation of the HGA.
In this category, we are the talisman. The theory of magick operates here in the correct understanding of conditions, the use of force coming from our Will and our own intention, directed towards ourselves in the correct proportions.
One plane & two or more persons (the self and others)
In this category, the object is outside the magician’s direct control, but is within the control of another person’s will. This requires the exertion of energy towards the object using some type of medium.
If one wants to gain the knowledge that is in a book, they might inflame their Will to that aim, devoting their life and energy towards it. They might also express that will by seeking out people who are likely to know about the book, or impose their will through their own earnest enthusiasm on the topic. Ultimately they may find that the book is either suggested to them or lent to them directly.
The same could be accomplished ceremonially, by constructing a pantacle to the object and charging it, sending vibrations of strain into the Astral until the universe takes action to right the imbalance and brings the book to the magician.
Other examples that Crowley gives are the winning of a woman who is with someone else, regaining a stolen watch, coercing a rich man to do something using threat of blackmail, and subtle body (astral) influences.
This is the more traditional representation of the magical link where the magician influences people or events by using a talisman or token to represent the connection between himself/herself and the object of the operation. But it absolutely follows the postulate and theorems given in the theory of magick.
Two planes (no direct connection between the self and the object)
In this category, there is no direct link between the magician’s Will and the will of the object. Enacting change in this requires immense knowledge of magical technique and mystical attainment. This link is a bit more difficult to grasp and Crowley only gives one example, that of summoning a thunder storm.
There is resonance with the 16th and 18th theorems, those being more mystical in nature. However, the disconnect between the magician and the object makes it a challenge to formulate and devise a suitable link. Still, if the postulate and theorems of the Theory hold true, then success is possible given that all conditions are taken into account and the proper amounts and types of force are aimed at the correct object.
Crowley concludes with some comments on the required precision and timing of ritual practices, and in a shotgun approach, advises that this type of link should be sought across as many orders of being as possible to ensure success.
Conclusion
Most commonly, the magical link is thought of as a physical object, a talisman or similar, that connects the will of the magician to the object of his operation. These fall into Crowley’s second category of magical links. There are many examples of this: voodoo dolls, figurines, amulets, rings, handkerchiefs, love letters, box of chocolates, etc.
Crowley’s two other categories of magical links reveal a broader spectrum. The examples given show that magical links can be directly internal to the magician, such as initiation where the self is the talisman, or they can use indirect methods of contact, such as influencing public opinion by publishing a book, or causing change in the weather by force of will.
It becomes clear that the Theory of Magick is the underpinning of the Magical Link. In these two written pieces, the theme of the one runs throughout the text of the other. Chapter 14 in Book 4 describes the magical link again and again in terms that are nearly identical with those in the Theory of Magick.
The Postulate is the key.
“ANY required Change may be effected by the application of the proper kind and degree of Force in the proper manner through the proper medium to the proper object.”
This is the crux of how magick works. While the last part “through the proper medium” explicitly calls out the Link, that is, the part of the formula that connects the Force to the Object of the operation, it is fair to say that in this context the term “magical link” takes on a different meaning. The link is not just a consecrated love letter sent to your crush with a box of chocolates, or your boss’s business card bound up with string, or the Microsoft © letterhead in flames on an altar.
Within the context of the Postulate, the definition of the magical link expands to encompass the entire magical chain of intent that starts with the initial Willed idea which is connected to a Force of sufficient strength, aimed in the right way, passing through the correct medium, and makes contact with the proper object. The saying “a chain is only as strong as its weakest link” is appropriate. A weak magical link anywhere along that chain of intention brings risk of failure into the Operation. This is explicitly stated in the third Theorem of the Theory of Magick, and I believe it is why Crowley stressed the importance of the magical link.
I propose that the magical link and the Postulate of the Theory of Magick are two ways of describing the same thing. The way Crowley describes the link is consistently similar -- nearly identical to the Postulate in places. The point Crowley makes over and over in both the Theory of Magick and Chapter 14 is that you can’t be completely successful unless you have all the correct parts in place and linked together. The examples of magical operations (both success and failure) consistently carry the message that not only must the link must be made properly but that all conditions must be qualitatively and quantitatively understood or the whole thing breaks down.
I believe that is why in Magick Without Tears Crowley says the link is the technical point that he insists on “above all others” and that “more failure comes from neglect of this than from all other causes put together.” On the surface, it appears he refers to the importance of a physical talisman or the method of contact -- and it is true that is a key component -- but no less important are all the other links in the magical chain.
When Crowley says “In every operation of Magick the link must be properly made,” he is speaking of the link as action. Magicians are linking things together, making connections between their Will and the world to enact change. As such the magical link is a verb, not a noun. Specific examples of types of links and how they are used are a form of misdirection. They draw our attention to the objects in the foreground. Meanwhile the Postulate of the Theory of Magick is operating in the background as the overarching mechanism.
Crowley’s declaration in the last paragraph reinforces this idea.
“Let the Magical Link be made strong! It is ‘love under will’; it affirms the identity of the Equation of the work; it makes success Necessity.”
That doesn’t sound like a box of chocolates to me.
Note the use of writing and communication as examples of magickal effects in Crowley's writing. Indeed, all he did was write in his magickal Universe.
Writing...it was the first Magick and is really the only true Magick. Begin to write and generate as many ideas as you can. What starts out as awkward will become sophisticated, as you continue to read and feed your Mind. This is the creation of Soul. The work brings about revolution in history and the involution of the Divine into the world.