That Fiercely Ruling T. Eliot Stokes!

[Gothick]

Who thinks Thayer David should be awarded some sort of posthumous emolument for GREATLY heightening the tone of this week's episodes?

I watched these shows on tape, and it was amazing how sharp, exciting, and plain old watchable the proceedings were with Stokes on the case.

I'm thinking some of the regulars were suffering a case of the Summer Doldrums.  Lara Parker was very good, and Nicholas was a sly, sleek minx in his dressing gown.

When Stokes was reading some fascinating occult tome (Magick in Theory and Practice by Ali Crowley, perchance?) and Barn was banging at the door and he intoned "Go away, go away, there's no one at home!" I cheered him on.  But Professor, that spell works much better if you sprinkle some wormwood and verbena at the threshold beforehand.

Gothick

[Raineypark]

When Stokes was reading some fascinating occult tome (Magick in Theory and Practice by Ali Crowley, perchance?) and Barn was banging at the door and he intoned "Go away, go away, there's no one at home!" I cheered him on.  But Professor, that spell works much better if you sprinkle some wormwood and verbena at the threshold beforehand.Gothick

Gothick, this is Collinsport we're talking about.  Verbena and Wormwood have their place, but in THIS town I think it would be prudent to go straight for the Rowan Tree and the Wolfsbane and not take any chances!!  

Raineypark  
(Ali Crowley?.....Ali?...!!!   )

[Lindsey]

Yes, Stokes is wonderful. His dialogue is very witty. My dad and I especially liked today's quote:

Julia: "How is your day?" (or something like that)

Stokes: "I've had infinately better ones."

I need to keep that in mind the next time someone asks me how my day is going.

-Lindsey

[ProfStokes]

Who thinks Thayer David should be awarded some sort of posthumous emolument for GREATLY heightening the tone of this week's episodes?

I do!  You certainly were correct when you said that this week was going to showcase some of the great Stokes scenes.   I had been waiting to see yesterday's episode for a long time (though I thought the scene came much later, when Betsy Durkin played Vicki.)  The sarcastic remark about giving "three rousing cheers" for Vicki's disappearance has stuck in my memory since the first time I saw this storyline.  

The professor really is one of the most vivid characters on the show, IMO.  Not only is he witty and well-spoken, he also stands firm throughout the madness of the various storylines.  He's constant and rarely acts out of character just to facilitate whatever happens in the scripts.  To me, that makes him one of DS's most believable characters.

ProfStokes

[The Late Mrs. Collins]

Professor Stokes is my favorite DARK SHADOWS character.  One of my favorite moments is yet to come in this storyline.

SPOILER

When Professor Stokes gets a tour of Nicholas Blair's house and then reports back to Barnabas and Julia, he insults Nicholas's decorating taste and at the same time Nicholas is watching the trio with his magic mirror.  Cracks me up!

[Daphne]

Raineypark  
(Ali Crowley?.....Ali?...!!!   )

*perks up* HUH??   Who's that?

[Raineypark]

Alister Crowley wrote on the subjects of magic, witchcraft and satanism in the early part of the 20th century.  He's credited (or blamed, depending on your point of view) with being a force behind the rise of interest in Pagan Religions and practices.

I wrote what I did because Gothick wrote "Ali Crowley" in his post and I've NEVER seen anyone do that....nor could I IMAGINE anyone doing that.

This is a man believed by some to be a powerful magician.....not someone you could nickname "Ali".

It's a bit of an "in joke", so it probably would have been more polite to the rest of the 'cousins' to have sent it in a private IM.  My Bad.  

Raineypark

[ProfStokes]

*perks up* HUH??   Who's that?

Aleister Crowley was a self-styled sorcerer in the late 1800's--early 1900's who has been called 'the wickedest man in the world.'  Allegedly, his own mother was afraid of him and nicknamed him 'The Great Beast' after the Biblical monster in the Book of Revelation.  Crowley did all he could to live up to the title.  

As a young man, he belonged to a 'secret society' called the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn (along with W.B. Yeats) and was partially responsible for the fall of the group.  Crowley then founded his own Order of the Silver Star, spending much of his life traveling (partly because of wanderlust, partly because villagers would try to run him out of town.)  He and his followers practiced magick, took drugs, and did a host of other vile things that were much elaborated in the rumors of the day.  Crowley also fancied himself an artistic genius, but the public didn't much care for his paintings or his poetry.  He's famous for his motto, "Do what thou wilt."  The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper album cover is supposed to have Crowley's picture in the background, but I've never sat down to see for myself.

ProfStokes

[Connie]

Eliot says:  "Toss dem wands!"

Hmm...ya know, Aleister Crowley would have been a perfect character for Dark Shadows.  Never occurred to me before.  He wrote what some people consider a brilliant study of the tarot - The Book of Thoth, and designed an esoteric tarot deck to go with it.  It's quite a popular deck.  I've seen it in a few stores.
Then, he was into another DS fixture - the I Ching.  He developed something called the flat stick method.  (whatever that is)   ?!?

There are so many myths and legends about him that it's hard to know what to believe.  Some say he was very misunderstood, while others claim he was the most evil man that ever lived.
(See?  Perfect for Dark Shadows)

Don't know if it's true, but my husband told me it's alleged that Crowley met his demise during some sort of satanic ritual during which he spontaneously combusted.    

Ah well, easy come, easy go.

-CLC

[Cassandra]

Aleister Crowley was a self-styled sorcerer in the late 1800's--early 1900's who has been called 'the wickedest man in the world.'  Allegedly, his own mother was afraid of him and nicknamed him 'The Great Beast' after the Biblical monster in the Book of Revelation.  Crowley did all he could to live up to the title.  

As a young man, he belonged to a 'secret society' called the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn (along with W.B. Yeats) and was partially responsible for the fall of the group.  Crowley then founded his own Order of the Silver Star, spending much of his life traveling (partly because of wanderlust, partly because villagers would try to run him out of town.)  He and his followers practiced magick, took drugs, and did a host of other vile things that were much elaborated in the rumors of the day.  Crowley also fancied himself an artistic genius, but the public didn't much care for his paintings or his poetry.  He's famous for his motto, "Do what thou wilt."  The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper album cover is supposed to have Crowley's picture in the background, but I've never sat down to see for myself.

ProfStokes

We must have been reading the same books Professor, because this all sounds so similar to what I've read about him in the past. There's so much myth surrounding the man that it's hard to believe anything.  

[Gothick]

Hi RP and others,

Wish I could take credit for Ali Crowley but I can't.  The occult bookshop down the street from the office has (or had) a few shelves devoted to Crowley and his disciples (of which there are MANY still working in the present day) and THAT is how they were labelled--Ali Crowley!  I thought it was brilliant, I imagine him wearing outsized glasses like Ali McGraw in Love Story.

To whomever read Crowley spontaneously combusted--alas, he died in bed of good old natural causes. His drug addiction was caused by an illness (possibly syphilis?) for which he could not get adequate medication in England at the time.  His attempts to substitute resulted in drug addiction.  He also experimented with drugs ritually.  This was many decades before Carlos Castaneda or Timothy Leary.

I don't think it is correct to describe Crowley as a "Satanist" at any point in his career. though his use of names such as Baphomet (the legendary God of the Templars, who bears a "shocking" resemblance to the Christian Devil in a well known engraving from the pen of Eliphas Levi) and Our Lady Babalon in his writings would understandably lead a reader uninformed on esosteric topics to believe that he worshipped that Old Fellow known to the Church Lady as "... ... ... SATAN???!!!"

Incidentally, there are several movies out there that have characters based upon Crowley as their villains.  The Black Cat (1934) and The Devil Rides Out (aka The Devil's Bride, 1966) are two of them.

Gothick

[Daphne]

This is a man believed by some to be a powerful magician.....not someone you could nickname "Ali".

It's a bit of an "in joke", so it probably would have been more polite to the rest of the 'cousins' to have sent it in a private IM.  My Bad.  
Raineypark

LOL, I was just playing Rainypark, my name's Ali, so I just perked up at reading it somewhere; I was just teasing. LOL I just naturally ask questions about everything.....good thing I'm not a cat ^_~

And heeey I'd like to think *I'm* some sort of all powerful person *BWAAHAHAHA* LOL .... erm .. yeah ^_^;;; hehe but I was just playing

~Daphne ^_^