The Diary of a Drug Fiend

By Aleister Crowley

This is a true story... It is a terrible story; but it is also a story of hope and of beauty. Written by Aleister Crowley, Diary of a Drug Fiend tells the story of young Peter Pendragon and his lover Louise Laleham, and their adventures traveling through Europe in a cocaine and heroin haze. The bohemian couples’ binges produce visions and poetic prophecies, but when their supply inevitably runs dry they find themselves faced with the reality of their drug addiction. Through the guidance of King Lamus, a master adept, they use the application of practical Magick to free themselves from addiction. Released in as his first published novel in 1922 and dubbed “a book for burning” by the papers of the time, Diary of a Drug Fiend reveals the poet, the lover, and the profound adept that was Aleister Crowley.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Red Wheel Weiser
• Release date: Sep 1, 2010
• ISBN: 9781609255787

Aleister Crowley

Aleister Crowley (1875-1947) was an English poet, painter, occultist, magician, and mountaineer. Born into wealth, he rejected his family’s Christian beliefs and developed a passion for Western esotericism. At Trinity College, Cambridge, Crowley gained a reputation as a poet whose work appeared in such publications as The Granta and Cambridge Magazine. An avid mountaineer, he made the first unguided ascent of the Mönch in the Swiss Alps. Around this time, he first began identifying as bisexual and carried on relationships with prostitutes, which led to his contracting syphilis. In 1897, he briefly dated fellow student Herbert Charles Pollitt, whose unease with Crowley’s esotericism would lead to their breakup. The following year, Crowley joined the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, a secret occult society to which many of the era’s leading artists belonged, including Bram Stoker, W. B. Yeats, Arthur Machen, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Between 1900 and 1903, he traveled to Mexico, India, Japan, and Paris. In these formative years, Crowley studied Hinduism, wrote the poems that would form The Sword of Song (1904), attempted to climb K2, and became acquainted with such artists as Auguste Rodin and W. Somerset Maugham. A 1904 trip to Egypt inspired him to develop Thelema, a philosophical and religious group he would lead for the remainder of his life. He would claim that The Book of the Law (1909), his most important literary work and the central sacred text of Thelema, was delivered to him personally in Cairo by the entity Aiwass. During the First World War, Crowley allegedly worked as a double agent for the British intelligence services while pretending to support the pro-German movement in the United States. The last decades of his life were spent largely in exile due to persecution in the press and by the states of Britain and Italy for his bohemian lifestyle and open bisexuality.

Reviews for The Diary of a Drug Fiend

[pghdragonman · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I'm not going to apologize for Crowley. At times, he was not a nice person. I'm also not going to apologize for this book. It is about drug use and drug abuse. I am going to ask that you read it in a historical perspective. In the time period Crowley writes about, many substances that today are either tightly regulated or illegal, were either readily available or not seen in the same light they are today. Do not judge which is the correct view, just accept the premise of the time.That said, readers will find "Diary" probably one of the strongest accounts of what happens when we let outside forces rule us. In the beginning of the narrative, the protagonists use drugs as a recreation, in a social context. Later, habituation turns into physical addiction. Enter Crowley who tries to teach the protagonists, that you can do whatever you like, but there is a price to pay. He also teaches them to channel their will to be superior to their desires.I don't know that the methods described here actually work. I was reading this book for the journey back in time to a much different Europe, when the rich did enjoy a different lifestyle and were truly above everything. For that reason, I was not disappointed.Come take this magical journey. Pay attention to the sights along the way, as this world does not exist any more. Regard this as you would a Kevin Baker novel and it has a whole new perspective.

[p_s_patrick · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I enjoyed reading this book, It was a touch dark in places and quite the opposite in others. I was expecting it to be a bit more shocking than it was, but the story on the whole was quite easy to get into, and that minds of the characters are indentifiable with to a degree which I didn't think they would be. It is interesting to understand the psychology of someone who becomes addicted to drugs, and how they manage to overcome them. This book is written in quite an aesthetic way and this makes it quite easy to read. The author obviously has some writing skill, but does not manage to put himself up into the superb author category. I would recommend this book to anyone who has considered using drugs, so they would know what to expect, and to give them a responsible attitude to drugs. I haven't taken drugs, but this book has put me off them, and only really advocates their use in useful situations, such as use for aiding literary or scientific venture, and says that the danger is taking them just for the sake of it. The message is a bit deeper, and really criticises doing anything just for the sake of it, and encourages us to think critically of all our actions so that we should do what we ought to, not just what we get into a habit or routine of doing, so that we make the most out of our lives. I was expecting this book to be a touch occult, but it isn't really, apart from the protagonist becoming involved in a fairly harmless "cult" at the end. Not a bad read, this book has its merits.