Over at the Big Think website, there’s a video of conductor John Eliot Gardiner, author of the new book Bach: Music in the Castle of Heaven, talking about Johann Sebastian Bach.
In his description of the famed composer, Gardiner reminds us that one need not be an angel to channel the divine.
As I was listening, it made me think of one of my own favourite rebels – Aleister Crowley.
Though I don’t believe he was as wicked as he liked his reputation to be, there were definitely elements of his personality that would have been very difficult to deal with.
Despite that, the Thoth Tarot he created with artist Lady Frieda Harris is still my very favourite Tarot deck ever. It’s simply brilliant.
I think Crowley did somehow manage to channel something divine, though like Bach, there’s no doubt he himself was a bit of a devil.