Real Crime/Paranormal/Conspiracy Theories Book III

Aleister Crowley: The Great Beast 666

Aleister Crowley (/ˈæleɪstərˈkroʊli/; born Edward Alexander Crowley, also known as TauBaphomet; 12 October 1875 – 1 December 1947) was an Englishoccultist, ceremonial magician, poet, painter, novelist, andmountaineer. He founded the religion of Thelema, identifying himselfas the prophet entrusted with guiding humanity into the Æon of Horusin the early 20th century. A prolific writer, he published widelyover the course of his life.

Born to a wealthy family in RoyalLeamington Spa, Warwickshire, Crowley rejected his parents'fundamentalist Christian Plymouth Brethren faith to pursue aninterest in Western esotericism. He was educated at Trinity Collegeat the University of Cambridge, where he focused his attentions onmountaineering and poetry, resulting in several publications. Somebiographers allege that here he was recruited into a Britishintelligence agency, further suggesting that he remained a spythroughout his life. In 1898, he joined the esoteric Hermetic Orderof the Golden Dawn, where he was trained in ceremonial magic bySamuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers and Allan Bennett. Moving toBoleskine House by Loch Ness in Scotland, he went mountaineering inMexico with Oscar Eckenstein, before studying Hindu and Buddhistpractices in India. He married Rose Edith Kelly and in 1904 theyhoneymooned in Cairo, Egypt, where Crowley claimed to have beencontacted by a supernatural entity named Aiwass, who provided himwith The Book of the Law, a sacred text that served as the basis forThelema. Announcing the start of the Æon of Horus, The Book declaredthat its followers should "Do what thou wilt" andseek to align themselves with their True Will through the practice ofmagick.

After an unsuccessful attempt to climbKanchenjunga and a visit to India and China, Crowley returned toBritain, where he attracted attention as a prolific author of poetry,novels, and occult literature. In 1907, he and George Cecil Jonesco-founded an esoteric order, the A∴A∴, through which theypropagated Thelema. After spending time in Algeria, in 1912 he wasinitiated into another esoteric order, the German-based Ordo TempliOrientis (O.T.O.), rising to become the leader of its British branch,which he reformulated in accordance with his Thelemite beliefs.Through the O.T.O., Thelemite groups were established in Britain,Australia, and North America. Crowley spent the First World War inthe United States, where he took up painting and campaigned for theGerman war effort against Britain, later revealing that he hadinfiltrated the pro-German movement to assist the Britishintelligence services. In 1920, he established the Abbey of Thelema,a religious commune in Cefalù, Sicily where he lived with variousfollowers. His libertine lifestyle led to denunciations in theBritish press, and the Italian government evicted him in 1923. Hedivided the following two decades between France, Germany, andEngland, and continued to promote Thelema until his death.

Crowley gained widespread notorietyduring his lifetime, being a recreational drug experimenter,bisexual, and an individualist social critic. Crowley has remained ahighly influential figure over Western esotericism and thecounterculture and continues to be considered a prophet in Thelema.He is the subject of various biographies and academic studies.

Early life

Youth: 1875–1894

Crowley was born as Edward AlexanderCrowley at 30 Clarendon Square in Royal Leamington Spa, Warwickshire,on 12 October 1875. His father, Edward Crowley (1829–1887), wastrained as an engineer, but his share in a lucrative family brewingbusiness, Crowley's Alton Ales, had allowed him to retire before hisson was born. His mother, Emily Bertha Bishop (1848–1917), camefrom a Devonshire-Somerset family and had a strained relationshipwith her son; she described him as "the Beast", aname that he reveled in. The couple had been married at London'sKensington Registry Office in November 1874, and were evangelicalChristians. Crowley's father had been born a Quaker, but hadconverted to the Exclusive Brethren, a faction of a Christianfundamentalist group known as the Plymouth Brethren, with Emilyjoining him upon marriage. Crowley's father was particularly devout,spending his time as a traveling preacher for the sect and reading achapter from the Bible to his wife and son after breakfast every day. Following the death of their baby daughter in 1880, in 1881 theCrowleys moved to Redhill, Surrey. At the age of 8, Crowley was sentto H.T. Habershon's evangelical Christian boarding school inHastings, and then to Ebor preparatory school in Cambridge, run bythe Reverend Henry d'Arcy Champney, whom Crowley considered a sadist.