The Equinox, Vol. 1, No. 4: The Review of Scientific Illuminism (The Equinox: The Review of Scientific Illuminism) (Volume 1)
Aleister Crowley (born Edward Alexander Crowley; 12 October 1875 – 1 December 1947) was an English occultist, ceremonial magician, poet, painter, novelist, and mountaineer. He was responsible for founding the religion and philosophy of Thelema, in which role he identified himself as the prophet entrusted with guiding humanity into the Aeon of Horus in the early 20th century. Born to a wealthy Plymouth Brethren family, Crowley rejected this faith to pursue western esotericism, poetry, and mountaineering. He was educated at Cambridge, where he embraced his bisexuality. Some biographers allege that he was recruited by British intelligence there, and that he remained a spy throughout his life. In 1898 he joined the esoteric Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, before moving to Boleskine House by Loch Ness, and travelling to Mexico and India to study Hindu and Buddhist practices. He married Rose Edith Kelly and they travelled to Cairo in 1904. There, Crowley claimed to have been contacted by a supernatural entity named Aiwass, who provided him with The Book of the Law, a sacred text that served as the basis for Thelema. After an unsuccessful attempt to climb Kanchenjunga, Crowley returned to Britain where, in 1907, he and George Cecil Jones co-founded the A/ A/ as a Thelemite order. After spending time in Algeria, he was initiated into the Ordo Templi Orientis in 1912, rising to become the leader of its British branch, which he reformulated in accordance with his Thelemite beliefs. After spending the First World War in the United States, where he worked for British intelligence services to infiltrate the pro-German lobby, in 1920 he moved to Cefalù in Sicily, to run a commune known as the Abbey of Thelema. 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, and continued to promote Thelema until his death. Crowley gained widespread notoriety during his lifetime, being a recreational drug experimenter, and an individualist social critic. As a result, he was denounced in the popular press as "the wickedest man in the world" and erroneously labelled a Satanist. Crowley has remained a highly influential figure over western esotericism and the counter-culture, and continues to be recognised as a prophet in Thelema. In 2002, a BBC poll ranked him as the seventy-third greatest Briton of all time.