Aleister Crowley

Lore & Background

Born to a wealthy family in Royal Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, Crowley rejected his parents' fundamentalist Christian Plymouth Brethren faith to pursue an interest in Western esotericism. He was educated at Trinity College at the University of Cambridge, where he focused his attention upon mountaineering and poetry. In 1898, he joined the esoteric Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. 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. After the unsuccessful 1905 Kanchenjunga expedition and a visit to India and China, Crowley returned to Britain. In 1907, he and George Cecil Jones co-founded the A∴A∴. After spending time in Algeria, in 1912 he was initiated into the Ordo Templi Orientis (O.T.O.). Crowley spent the First World War in the United States, where he took up painting. In 1920, he established the Abbey of Thelema in Cefalù, Sicily. He divided the following two decades between France, Germany, and England, and continued to promote Thelema until his death.

Reader's Guide

Crowley’s behaviour was marked by a lifelong rejection of the Christian morality of his upbringing, which he replaced with a pursuit of individual will and esoteric practice. He used drugs, engaged in bisexual relationships, and acted as an individualist social critic, cultivating a libertine lifestyle that drew denunciations in the British press. His ecology was that of a peripatetic occultist: he studied ceremonial magic with the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, co-founded the A∴A∴ order, and rose to lead the British branch of the Ordo Templi Orientis, which he reformulated to align with his Thelemic teachings. He established a religious commune in Sicily, the Abbey of Thelema, where he lived with followers until eviction by Italian authorities. His significance lies in founding the religion of Thelema, based on a sacred text he claimed was dictated by a supernatural entity, which declared a new spiritual age and the principle of aligning with one’s True Will through magic. A prolific author of poetry, novels, and occult literature, he also worked as a mountaineer and painter. His notoriety and influence have persisted, shaping Western esotericism and the 1960s counterculture, and he is revered as a prophet within Thelema.

Did You Know?

• Crowley was born Edward Alexander Crowley at 30 Clarendon Square in Royal Leamington Spa, Warwickshire.
• He was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he focused on mountaineering and poetry.
• He wrote down The Book of the Law in Cairo in 1904, which serves as the basis for Thelema.
• Crowley established the Abbey of Thelema in Cefalù, Sicily, in 1920.

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