Item #63153 Three Essays on Freedom. John W. Edited and PARSONS, Hymenaeus Beta, Jack Parsons.

Three Essays on Freedom.

York Beach, Maine: Teitan Press, 2008. First Edition. Hardcover. Octavo. 88pp. Black cloth, with silver gilt title etc. to the spine, and striking black and white dustjacket featuring a seldom seen photograph of Parsons on the front. Black and white frontispiece portrait photograph of Parsons. Limited to 418 numbered copies - this copy "out of series". In addition to being a loyal devotee of Crowley's creed of Thelema, Jack Parsons was a staunch libertarian who vehemently opposed racism, the suppression of women, religious intolerance, sexual repression and anything else that diminished the rights of the individual. This book comprises three essays by Parsons: the never-before published "Freedom is a Lonely Star," his better known work "Freedom is a Two-Edged Sword" (previously published only in softcover) and a short piece entitled "Doing Your Will" (previously published only in a limited-circulation journal). The two "Freedom" essays were written in the early days of the Cold War and McCarthyism, and display Parson's utter contempt for the politicians and their cronies who used "national security" as a justification for the widespread destruction of civil liberties, and his despair at the quiescent citizens who were persuaded to sacrifice their hard won freedoms for the illusion of safety. Parsons' essays were, however, not simply a critique of the times: they also allowed him to explore at some length his own ideas of what an ideal society should be like. This is particularly evident in "Doing Your Will," a piece that he originally wrote as a lecture for Agapé Lodge. Not surprisingly the vision he presented is heavily colored by Thelemic principles, and draws deeply from the text of Liber Oz, the short, poetic statement of human rights and responsibilities that Crowley had promulgated a few years earlier. Three Essays on Freedom not only delivers a blistering attack on authoritarianism, but also offers a well thought out vision of a society in which each was free "to do his or her will," in accordance with the higher ideals of Crowley's Thelema. Appears unused - thus Fine in near Fine dust jacket. Item #63153
ISBN: 9780933429116

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