The Sword of Song: Called by Christians The Book of the Beast
by Aleister Crowley
A critical edition edited, annotated and introduced by Richard Kaczynski

From the publisher
Too inflammatory for English publishers, Aleister Crowley printed The Sword of Song, his first talismanic work, in Paris in 1904, releasing a mere one hundred copies. Deconstructing his encounters with the Golden Dawn, Buddhism, Agnosticism, and Christianity, the book explores Crowley’s magic and spiritual philosophy before he experienced the revelation that led to The Book of the Law. It contains Crowley’s first manifesto, his first forays into sex magic, his initial embrace of the legendary title of “the Beast,” the occult poem “Ascension Day,” and mystical essays.

In this fully annotated deluxe hardcover edition of The Sword of Song, renowned Crowley biographer Richard Kaczynski presents Crowley’s preferred text for this work, drawing on all existing draft manuscripts as well as unpublished margin notes from Crowley’s personal copies of the book. Kaczynski clarifies all the significant changes and additions throughout the book’s various iterations and provides explanations for the many occult and popular culture references. He also includes a substantial scholarly introduction, reflecting an intimate knowledge of Crowley and the development of his magical practice.

A prototype for later works such as Konx Om Pax and The Book of Lies, The Sword of Song’s blend of poetry, allegory, fiction, and essay reveals the formative inner workings of one of the twentieth century’s most provocative thinkers just before he received the life-changing Book of the Law from Aiwass.

Praise for The Sword of Song

“‘Post annos CXX patebo.’ Perhaps now that 120 years have passed since the first revelation of Crowley’s elusive collection, The Sword of Song, it can finally open itself to open minds who, like its author, are eager to challenge and find spiritual satisfaction in challenging religious orthodoxies of all kinds. Richard Kaczynski generously provides apposite, revealing and wholly admirable assistance to help the new reader access the remarkable genius of 666: an oasis in our current desertion of higher things.”

—Tobias Churton, biographer of Aleister Crowley

“Aleister Crowley’s The Sword of Song is a wild beast of a book, with poetry and prose that address subjects of Buddhism, Kabbalah, Tarot, cosmology, philosophy, agnosticism, magic, and more, but it is skillfully tamed by its editor, Richard Kaczynski, whose erudite introduction and annotations bring light to this fascinating product of an original and extraordinary mind brimming with insights and ideas that explode on almost every page of the text. This sword truly sings!”

—Gordan Djurdjevic, author of India and the Occult: The Influence of
South Asian Spirituality on Modern Western Occultism

“The Sword of Song is the troubadour’s voice pouring ecstatically from the breast of a soul at the threshold of a great awakening. A masterpiece—a symphony—a nightingale’s prayer.”

—Lon Milo DuQuette, author of The Magick of Aleister Crowley

“Aleister Crowley’s The Sword of Song as a discursive and complex conglomeration of poetry, metaphysics, philosophical criticism, and more has long amazed and puzzled readers. At last, Richard Kacynski’s fastidious and insightful annotations to this long awaited volume assist in revealing these branches as a unified organic field. This new edition should prove invaluable to the novice as well as the advanced scholar for exploring a new aeon of penetrating vision into magick and its unfolding in our modern era.”

—Robert Podgurski, author of The Sacred Alignments and Sigils:
Angelic Magick, Renaissance Thought, and Modern Methods of Sigilization

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Published by Inner Traditions International

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The First Limited Edition

Richard Kaczynski’s critical edition of Aleister Crowley’s The Sword of Song was originally published in 2021 by Kamuret Press in London in a limited edition of 333 copies. Readers eagerly snatched up copies, and the print run sold out in mere days. The new edition from Inner Traditions ensures that this important book will remain available to readers for years to come.