enjoyable read, but works best as companion to Book 4


This book makes an excellent companion to "Book 4" (part I), which examines various stages required for yoga. The emphasis of both books is ultimately to use yoga as a means for developing the concentration and will power necessary for magic. Crowley considers magic/yoga to be the quest of an individual to discover their True Nature/ Higher Self/ Essential Being, in other words to reach heights of spiritual enlightenment and to know our true purpose and nature of existence.
I should add here that actually reading the works of Crowley has given me a very different impression than the stigma that surrounds him. My preconception about Crowley were based on things I had read/heard... after all, I first read Diary of a Drug Fiend at fifteen years old, because of Crowley's reputation as a drug addled black magician, which seemed extraordinarily cool at the time. Perhaps that is why most people read Crowley... because of the tales and lore of his wicked personality, as if he is a child sacrificing, blood drinking, Satan worshiping beast. Now, I am not about to wipe his slate clean... his life seems to have been full of contradictions, because he seems to have explored both heights of enlightenment and depths of depravity. However, after rereading more of Crowley's work, he seems to be less deserving of the stigma surrounding him, and more deserving to be seriously read for his insights into spirituality in all it's forms.

Anyways, in this book Crowley instructs students on steps needed to approach mysticism through Yoga, and he details the complications that arise along the path. A major intention of his in these lectures was to dispel "myths" about Yoga, demystifying it's status as "exotic and oriental"... he tried to bring it down to Earth and examine it without and aura of obscurity. At the time the lectures were written Yoga was apparently seen as a bizarre practice from the exotic East... not so much today the case today, in which Yoga seems to be been co-opted as a fitness craze. This brings it's own bag of problems- I feel nausea every time I see an advertisement using the lotus pose as a sign of "inner peace", and every yoga class seemed to have made it as stressful as possible in order to tone old ladies muscles, rather than calm people down for spiritual discipline.

The book was written as a lecture series Crowley gave on yoga. It really reads as if Crowley is speaking, it has an amazingly natural flow and is full of humour. The best parts of this book are that it is very enjoyable and to read, and there are some passages that are rather deep, which are worth coming back to for further contemplation. Aside from that, I would really recommend Book 4 instead of Yoga for Yahoos, it is a better source for information, but has more of a "text book" feel. Yoga for Yahoos makes a good companion piece because of it's natural flow, and it's forays into Qabalistic theory, the complexities of logic and of quantum physics, and how all many various things relate to Yoga in practice.

If you are actually looking to read about Yoga in order to learn about and practice Yoga, I would instead recommend "Kundalini Yoga" by Swami Sivananda Rhada... it is absolutely excellent, and so full of practical and theoretical information/exercises that it can keep you busy for years. Above all, just practice instead of reading about it! If I could I'd give "Yoga for Yahoos" a 3.5 (but can't so it gets 4)... quite simply, I don't imagine I will refer to it much in the future, except for a few thought provoking passages... instead I will go back to "Book 4". The book would be a good addition for Crowley collectors.




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for the ultimate in precision of thought

when you read a book of this caliber you must look up each and every word that you do not know the correct defination of. Aleister Crowley has a command over the english language. This book proves that beyond a shadow of a doubt.

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An Essential Cornerstone

After some years of study of Crowley and his system of Magick I find that his writings on Yoga are indeed the first steps that one must take in order to progress in the proper direction in this particular discipline. It is even to be found in his writings on Yoga that Magick and Yoga are one and the same. Although I must say that his approach to Yoga is not one of say an orthodox practitioner, it nevertheless produces results that are just as tangible if one were to study under the tutelage of a traditional instructor who favored the ethical and moralistic aspect's that have been passed down over the ages. His detailed methods of Scientific Illuminism are structured in such a way so as to bring about the highest level of Yogic attainment in a shorter duration than was previously possible. I wholeheartedly recommend the Eight Limbs to anyone who is even remotely interested in the study of Yoga or Magick.

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