It is with great sadness that I announce that Donald Michael Kraig took his last breaths last night (3/17/2014) and died. He has crossed over to Summerland and is finally no longer suffering. The type of cancer he had was just too aggressive for us to do any more treatments and his body finally gave way. He did not suffer. He simply slipped away in his sleep.
In lieu of flowers or cards, please consider donating to the fund below to help offset medical expenses and, now, funeral expenses.At a later date to be named, there will be a memorial service celebrating his life and what he meant to all of us.Namaste,Holly Allender Kraig
Last night Don Kraig lost his battle with pancreatic cancer. He went out fighting with a large number of his friends, students, and legions of readers alongside him. This is the way it should have been. Not only do occultists fight for every inch of life, what ever the odds, but Kraigâs books inspired many to start magical work and there are many of which owe their magical careers to him
There will be some who feel that the magic that they did to keep Don on this planet failed and they would be partly right. The magical reservoir which helped him through the last stage of his illness appeared to allow him to have a peaceful end unlike many who suffer from pancreatic cancer. It seemed that it really was his time and the fates had spoken and it was not a situation that magic had a right to change.
However, there was something more at play here. More than 1000 people that I know of were regularly doing regular healing workings in many different traditions, for a variety of different reasons. All that energy sat on the astral helping him through what was a very painful illness. It was there in such a supply that as he stepped into the Astral he would have known it and felt it.
It was a magical send off for a modern occult hero. Over the weeks that Kraigâs friends fought for him, he knew that he was loved, wanted and appreciated. You cannot want more from a life than that.
This is the sort of exit that few in the occult world have received. Many die unknown, unmourned and unappreciated; their books yellowing on second-hand book shops. The fact that so many gave their power to help him, is a sign that they wanted him to stay. The fact he went out fighting with so many alongside him was a sign that this was a special person. Someone who is more than human does not go âgently to that last good nightâ if they feel that they have work to be done. Don did not.
Kraig wrote a book which has been in every occult bookshop and most occultists bookshelves for more than 20 years. It will remain an occult classic he probably had more inside him which will be up to his students to bring through.
We do not learn about how important individual sparks are until they are gone. The collective grief already appearing on Facebook is mourning that vacuum inside ourselves that the departing spark leaves. We all did our best to try to change that, but it was time that Don left this story to go on to a new one. At least he knew that he was wanted.
Very sad news. R.I.P.
Now that Mr. Kraig has (sadly) passed, I want to say a bit about curing advanced cancer via magickal and/or energetic means.
It’s hard as hell, and it very often fails.
There is something in the nature of cancer that is resistant to cure and eradication, which is, of course, what makes it such a hard disease to treat mundanely once it has spread; that quality extends energetically, too.
My husband’s second wife had advanced liver cancer when they married – unbeknownst to her and her coven or him – and she began to fail rapidly one year after they married. She was 39. Her coven (a well-trained, serious group of witches), did all manner of healings, including ritual, and including lots of Reiki. She lasted six months.
However, her pain and suffering were quite minimal, and her passing was a blessed event attended by her husband, priestess, and coven members. Everyone attributed the ease of her illness and death to the healing work.
Many wondered why the Reiki (which at that time was thought to cure everything all the time) and rituals didn’t work. I wondered that, too, when I met her widower (my current husband) later. Then I came across a passage by the *founder of Reiki* himself, Master Usui, who described cancer cases as “very difficult.”
Instead of feeling like “the magick didn’t work,” I think it’s a good time to ponder the nature of cancer (particularly ones that are notoriously hard to cure, such as pancreatic cancer) and all such pervasive diseases, and maybe our meditations and what we discover will help the next person.
God Bless Him
He will be missed!
THANKS, Nick…wonderfully expressed and all true.
Many blessings that His journey back to the Cauldron of life is amazing and that His next life brings Him even greater joy and happiness….
Donald’s passing underscores the reality that many Occult figures from the 20th century are being lost…Raising the question…Who is going to carry on their efforts?
Sometimes the great reaper mows. Saturn has its turn to speak, and the things we love come to their appointed end. It was not the way we would have it go. Many fought to change the cards he was dealt, however in the end the fates got their way. I am sure his spirit is in a much better place. Yet we are forced to struggle on and learn the hard lessons of Saturn, ultimately we should become free of attachment and experience true cosmic freedom. I did not know Mr. Kraig personally, however I do own a couple of his books and deeply respect his work. Goodbye Don, you seem to have had a life well lived. May your soul find peace, and perhaps I will meet you the next time around.
And now at peace, time to learn, reflect and renew, then comes the impetus to incarnate once more, as the cycle of being and becoming continues…………..
Hi Nick,
I do not see the link to the fund you mentioned. Thanks.
Sad to hear about Don. His book Modern Magick was an absolute classic of its kind. When I used to help run the Sanctuary of Maat group, (at least in the early stages when I was there) we used to recommend two main books for the self-initiate to get started with- “Self-Initiation into the GD Tradition” and… “Modern Magick”..
Donald was an exquisite friend. I will miss his enfolding heartfelt hugs. His wisdom and gifts from beyond will be with us always. Just tune into him and he will be there to listen, support and advise as always.
It’s already the 24th of March today, and I hadn’t realized his passing, although I never read any of his books or knew him personally. Mr Farrell is correct to indicate the lack of sympathy in Thelemic material, as Crowley most certainly displayed the very same attitude throughout his own life, even to those he sodomized and used like sexual rags. It clearly shows that the ART and SCIENCE of MAGIA should NOT be taught to all.
On your post regarding Thelemites and their lack of response to his passing ( or worse) you wrote:
“Somehow caring for the weak means that strength is being shown.” I think you meant to say the contrary.
As for Crowley, the book of his law, etc: it very much indicates that:
1) Crowley went “bend sinister”, as Ithell Colquehoun and Crowleys “mackical diaries” point out. True occultists realize that MAGIA is an ART and SCIENCE that can be used for good or evil, and was NEVER intended for the masses, where it could be used for debased purposes.
2) That there are many very igorant and foolish people that will be drawn to perform “Magick”, without even realizing that it was ONLY intended for very few individuals in any era of time. Of course, rituals such as the LBRP are considered non-dangerous, but the problem is that most neshamas in any age are NOT prepared to use a loaded gun with WISDOM, and should never be given a loaded gun, or even how to make one.