Aleister Crowley

**Aleister Crowley** (12 October 1875 – 1 December 1947) was a British mystic, occultist, writer, poet, mountain climber and nicknamed "The Wickedest Man In the World.".

He was an influential member in some occult organisations, such as the Golden Dawn, the A∴A∴, and Ordo Templi Orientis (O.T.O.), and is better known today for his occult books and papers. He was bisexual.

Crowley also started a mystical philosophy known as Thelema, the _Abbey of Thelema_, and revived the term magick.

## Early life

Edward Alexander Crowley was born at 36 Clarendon Square in Royal Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, England, between 11:00pm and 11:59 p.m. on 12 October 1875.

In 1895, he went to Trinity College, Cambridge after going to Malvern College and Tonbridge School. In his three years at Cambridge, his father died and left him a large sum of money.

In December 1896, Crowley took interest in occultism and by the next year, he began reading books on alchemy and mysticism. A year later, he published his first book of poetry (_Aceldama_), and left Cambridge, only to meet Julian L. Baker who introduced him to Samuel Mathers and the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn.

In November 1899, Crowley bought Boleskine House in Foyers on the shore of Loch Ness in Scotland.

## The Golden Dawn

Samuel Mathers, acting leader of the Golden Dawn organisation, acted as his early mentor in western magic. Crowley lost faith in his mentor's abilities in 1900 but did not officially break with Mathers until 1904.

## Death

Crowley died of a respiratory infection in a Hastings boarding house on 1 December 1947 at the age of 72. He had been addicted to heroin after being prescribed morphine for his asthma and bronchitis many years earlier.

Readings at the cremation service in Brighton included _Hymn to Pan_, and newspapers referred to the service as a black mass.

## Popular culture

- The mysterious occult character, Oliver Haddo, in William Somerset Maugham's novel _The Magician_ (1908) is largely based on Crowley, whom Maugham met in Paris in 1906-1907.
- Crowley is the second image on the first row of the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album.
- Ozzy Osbourne released a song titled "Mr. Crowley" on his solo album Blizzard of Ozz.
- Iron Maiden recorded two tracks that relate to Crowley:  "Moonchild" from _Seventh Son of a Seventh Son_ and "Revelations" from _Piece of Mind_.
- Ernest Hemingway references Crowley in his memoir "A Moveable Feast".  In it, Ford Maddox Ford claims to have "cut" a man he thinks was Hilaire Belloc, but which in fact turns out to be "Alestair Crowley, the diabolist".
- In the song Quicksand on his 1971 album Hunky Dory, David Bowie sings : “I'm closer to the Golden Dawn, Immersed in Crowley's uniform of imagery”.
- Crowley and his beliefs were the subject of testimony in the 1994 murder trial of Damien Echols, as shown in the documentary film _Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills_.
- His motto of "Do What Thou Wilt" was written into the vinyl records of Led Zeppelin's album _Led Zeppelin III_ made in 1970. Jimmy Page, the band's guitarist and songwriter bought Boleskine House the same year.   The land around the house is seen in the movie _The Song Remains the Same_, made in 1973.

## Sources

- The Magical Diaries of Aleister Crowley (Tunisia 1923) : Edited by Stephen Skinner
- Bull, John. "The Wickedest Man in the World". _Sunday Express_, 24 Mar. 1923. Unverified that this is the article: Verification that the Sunday Express did make article:
- Bogdan, Henrik; Starr, Martin P. (2012). "Introduction". In Bogdan, Henrik; Starr, Martin P. Aleister Crowley and Western Esotericism. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 3–14. .

## Other websites

- Aleister Crowley film project

## Infobox (person)

- **name**: Aleister Crowley
- **image**: Aleister Crowley as Baphomet X° O.T.O.jpg
- **caption**: Aleister Crowley (1919)
- **birth place**: Royal Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, England
- **death place**: Hastings, Sussex, England