46 A Brave New World 11
pseudo-Egyptian , Greek and Enochian divinities. The similarity with Dee’s work appears to be no coincidence: Crowley explored and developed the material given in the Book of the Law through performing Enochian visionary magick, otherwise known as 12 ‘scrying the aeythers’ . Also, it must not be forgotten that Crowley was raised by a bigoted apocalyptic Christian sect known as the Plymouth Brethren, which made him something of a biblical expert.
11
I say ‘pseudo-Egyptian’ because the deities that appear in the Book of the Law are not classical Egyptian deities, with a number of their names being based on faulty translations of Egyptian, and some being completely original. Just as with Crowley’s concept of the development of man, his understanding of Egyptian culture and language has been superseded by contemporary scholarship. As a result, it could be argued that the Thelemic deities are in fact English gods! 12 See The Vision and the Voice. Alan Chapman
www.thebaptistshead.co.uk