The
schizophrenic, on
the other hand, has had his or her window kicked in by some great big
astral skinhead in eighteen-hole Doctor Martens boots. Both of them are
experiencing the same flood of phenomena and probably many of the same
perceptions. The magician, however, has a means of processing this information.
The magician has something to bail with. The schizophrenic can only sink
beneath the flood.
So, going back to the psychological evaluation of Rosaleen Norton, if I can find it... Despite his suspicions about her being in some way schizophrenic, Murphy wrote "there is nowhere in the record a lack of intellectual control over the fantasies, which is expected in schizophrenics." Norton could enter and leave the "fantasy" realm of awareness at will. Now, with Leo's system, and with, er, Crowley's use of the Qabalah, we're not dealing with visions and voices. A better comparison would be with the "number rituals" in obsessive compulsive disorder. Once again, there's a difference between the occult beliefs and practises and the mental illness. For example, in Isaac Marks' Living With Fear we read the words of a compulsive patient (who is a private eye by trade, in case you're interested):
I count the number of letters in the words spoken to me in any conversation, and I can tell you instantaneously the exact total of letters up to 350 or so. When you say 'Good morning, John,' I make an immediate mental note that this has 15 letters. When you asked me 'Does your counting obsession interfere with your conversation with people,' I answered 'Not really,' but before I answered I noticed that your question contained 63 letters. I also count the number of letters on every street sign. That does interfere sometimes, especially when I am in a hurry to get somewhere in the car and there are lots of signs on the streets. If there are three numbers in a house or stone window I must multiply them. For example, I see 275 on a building. I multiply 2 x 7 x 5. Of course, I do it very rapidly. It equals 70.
This man can't stop himself doing these things, whether they interfere with his life or not. He has no will at all when it comes to these rituals. Also, the rituals have absolutely no purpose. Mister, ah, Crowley's method, by contrast, had a purpose - to (a) help the student learn the Qabalah and (b) remind 'em how it applied to the totality of the Universe. To Crowley the system would not subjugate will but rather be an exercise of will. Crowley, after all, believed very strongly about "will" and had faith in potential human divinity (remember all those famous Aleister quotes? Do what thou wilt? Love under will? Forgotten them already?). Leo's system has a purpose too. The Emin follower will get to know the unity of the "Unseen world." Of course, none of this willpower or purpose negates the inherent paranoia in the idea that absolutely everything has a meaning. Ex-members of the Emin, like the sons of Peter Sellars and Spike Milligan, generally agreed that the Emin was good for them at the time they were in it but would not be good for the mentally ill.