Aleister Crowley

Lore & Background

Crowley was born to a wealthy family in Royal Leamington Spa, Warwickshire. He rejected his parents' fundamentalist Christian Plymouth Brethren faith to pursue an interest in Western esotericism. Educated at Trinity College, Cambridge, he focused on mountaineering and poetry, resulting in several publications. Some biographers allege that he was recruited into a British intelligence agency at Cambridge and remained a spy throughout his life. In 1898, he joined the esoteric Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, where he was trained in ceremonial magic by Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers and Allan Bennett. He went mountaineering in Mexico with Oscar Eckenstein before studying Hindu and Buddhist practices in India.

In 1904, he married Rose Edith Kelly, and they honeymooned in Cairo, Egypt, where Crowley wrote down The Book of the Law—a sacred text that serves as the basis for Thelema, which he said had been dictated to him by a supernatural entity named Aiwass. The Book announced the start of the Æon of Horus and declared that its followers should 'Do what thou wilt': seek to align themselves with their True Will via the practice of ceremonial magic. After the unsuccessful 1905 Kanchenjunga expedition and a visit to India and China, Crowley returned to Britain, where he attracted attention as a prolific author. In 1907, he and George Cecil Jones co-founded the esoteric order A∴A∴, through which they propagated Thelema. After time in Algeria, in 1912 he was initiated into the German-based Ordo Templi Orientis (O.T.O.), rising to lead its British branch, which he reformulated in accordance with Thelema. Through O.T.O., Thelemite groups were established in Britain, Australia, and North America.

Crowley spent the First World War in the United States, where he took up painting and campaigned for the German war effort against Britain; his biographers later revealed that he had infiltrated the pro-German movement to assist British intelligence. In 1920, he established the Abbey of Thelema, a religious commune in Cefalù, Sicily, where he lived with various followers. His libertine lifestyle led to denunciations in the British press, and the Italian government evicted him in 1923. He divided the following two decades between France, Germany, and England, continuing to promote Thelema until his death.

Reader's Guide

Crowley gained widespread notoriety during his lifetime, being a drug user, a bisexual, and an individualist social critic. He has remained a highly influential figure over Western esotericism and the counterculture of the 1960s, and he continues to be considered a prophet in Thelema. His writings, particularly The Book of the Law, form the core of Thelemic practice and philosophy. Despite—or because of—his controversial reputation, Crowley's life and work have been the subject of numerous biographies and academic studies, cementing his place as a pivotal figure in modern occultism. His emphasis on individual will and ceremonial magic has left a lasting imprint on esoteric traditions and popular culture alike.

Did You Know?

• Crowley was born Edward Alexander Crowley at 30 Clarendon Square in Royal Leamington Spa, Warwickshire.
• His mother described him as 'the Beast', a name he revelled in.
• He made the first ascent of the Mönch without a guide in 1897.
• He wrote down The Book of the Law in Cairo, Egypt, in 1904, which he said was dictated by a supernatural entity named Aiwass.

Notable Quotes (Wikiquote)

"I was in the death struggle with self: God and Satan fought for my soul those three long hours. God conquered — now I have only one doubt left — which of the twain was God?" — Aleister Crowley "Religion in life is either an amusement and a soporific, or a sham and a swindle." — Aleister Crowley "I am inclined to agree with the Head Master of Eton that pæderastic passions among schoolboys 'do no harm'; further, I think them the only redeeming feature of sexual life at public schools." — Aleister Crowley "I am above you and in you. My ecstasy is in yours. My joy is to see your joy." — Aleister Crowley