Seaweed Crowley on. Who is Crowley? The World's Worst Writer

Mysticism and magic... Probably everyone who has ever approached this mysterious sphere has heard the name of Aleister Crowley. The ignorant snatched lines from the yellow press and branded him with unflattering epithets, more advanced practitioners studied his works, but everyone determined for himself who this same Crowley Edward Aleister was?..

Magic in theory and practice

Crowley's legacy is, first of all, his teachings, clothed in book bindings. The master, capturing the very essence of mystical practices, conveyed the processed quintessence of knowledge in a language accessible to the common man. For seekers, the practical magic offered by this man, sometimes in the form of documentary literature with shades of artistic plots, such as his manuscript “Magic without Tears,” served as a kind of guide to a world, the veil before which is not opened to everyone.

The modern idea of ​​magic was woven from thousands of judgments of practitioners, but, nevertheless, a more fundamental idea of ​​​​this difficult subject was found in the textbook “Mysticism and Magic”. The author offers his students precise recommendations for studying areas such as:

Moreover, these recommendations resonate not only with those who are already walking along the magical path or are just groping their paths in it. Many historians and religious scholars, as well as people interested in psychology and philosophy, find valuable advice from a practicing mystic on the pages of his reasoning.

Biography of Aleister Crowley

Early life

The boy's parents raised him in the spirit of Protestantism, and while still a child, he studied the Bible every day. However, this did not leave its mark on the future fate of baby Crowley. The death of his father freed him from the obligation to participate, as he grew up, in the life of the Plymouth Brethren movement, of which both parents of the future mystic and magician were ardent admirers. Witnesses of his childhood, spent in the imposed service of God, would hardly have been able to imagine that in the future Alistair would write a book about this, “Moon Child,” playfully portraying himself in its central character and thereby giving food to various gossip.

Character

Aleister Crowley's horoscope says that his zodiac sign is Libra. This man truly reflected the element of Air. After all, Libra men, guided in their lives, as a rule, by calculation and logic, often do not take seriously such a trifle as the individual characteristics of people. And the motto of Crowley’s entire life, picked up from the French satirist Francois Rabelais, subsequently reflected the main idea driving this man: “Do what you will, so be the whole Law.”

Appearance

The semantic portrait of the nature of Satanist Aleister Crowley consists of many details, but his appearance most clearly conveys the inner strength of this mystic man. His mother, as a child, dubbed him “Beast 666,” as in the future he called himself “according to his mother’s behest.” And although many years have passed since his death, in all portraits and photographs he is truly distinguished by this special mystical gaze of the Great Beast. And, of course, he had no shortage of attention from women, because this man had a certain masculinity, as well as regular and beautiful facial features.

Interests

The mystic Crowley was a versatile man. In his collection of hobbies, in addition to the zealous study of all kinds of magical practices and poetry, there was a place for drawing and music. His interests also included a penchant for spending time at the chessboard and being on the slopes of mountains: Crowley loved mountaineering. His passion for mystical culture spilled over not only into the pages of his manuscripts, but also into the paintings he painted. Aleister Crowley's paintings are filled with motifs of the teachings that he followed throughout his life.

Skills and abilities

Alistair's mystical practice combined not only the ability to penetrate secret knowledge himself, but also the ability to clearly express its essence, as well as the ability to conduct carefully arranged rituals. And all this made him a real Master and teacher for many followers.

There is even an opinion that towards the end of his life, Crowley passed through and described the entire system of Wicca: a special religion of ancient witchcraft that existed secretly for many centuries and had its roots in pre-Christian European paganism.

Silver Star and Order of the Eastern Templars

In 1898, Crowley joined the ranks of the Order of the Golden Dawn. There he found like-minded people, but soon, through diligent practice, he outgrew his comrades. Possessing a subtle sense of humorous sarcasm, in his novel “Moon Child” he described in every detail the negative traits of his colleagues. And in 1904, having alienated several influential opponents, he left the order.

But in 1907, Aleister Crowley announced the creation of his own Order of the Silver Star and published his magical work “The Code of Sacred Books of Thelema” for initiates. And after some time he becomes the head of the Order of the Eastern Templars.

Teachings of Aleister Crowley

After leaving this world, the wizard and magician left a layer of his great teaching to his descendants. The philosophy of A. Crowley still settles in many thematic works and musical interpretations of individual authors. His motto “do what you want...” is also reflected in the lyrics of Moonchild’s song. Scripts and literary works are written based on Crowley's teachings.

The century in which the significant mystic lived was filled with the arrival of people into this world, whose philosophy is still perceived with trepidation by the ordinary man in the street. This bygone era, among other things, united its two great representatives: Crowley and Freud. They walked along the same conceptual road, tying together the theory of the influence of sexual desire on the everyday hustle and bustle of everyday life... - but they never met. Although, who knows how their possible collaboration would have ended...

Book of the Law

The year Crowley left the Golden Dawn, he went on a meditative journey to Cairo, where he spent his honeymoon. There he began to write one of his classic works, namely Crowley's Thelema. This work is devoted to religious teachings and a system of values ​​developed by the mystic himself. Excerpts from this book have long excited the minds of followers. Although a deep study of the master’s works shows that a diligent practitioner can train his will in this way (in Greek - telema), which is capable of as a result causing in himself certain personal changes he needs.

Diligently polishing his flaunted immoral appearance, Crowley founded Thelema Abbey in 1920, while in Sicily. According to rumors, the morals of free love were present there, the use of potent psychotropic drugs was not prohibited, and the practice of magic was encouraged. After one of the students, unable to withstand the ritual, went to the forefathers, his relatives raised a fuss, and the Italian police were forced to expel Crowley and his followers from the country.

Reflecting on the life of the mystic after the abbey, one can assume that, while staying there and, apparently, giving plenty of his inner essence, as well as fully enjoying carnal love and the vicissitudes of human passions, Crowley received a new charge of energy, and in 8 years he created four fundamental of their labor. One of them is “Eight Lectures on Yoga”. Aleister Crowley's Grimoire Library was also conceived there.

Crowley and Nazism

Although many bibliographers try to draw a deep parallel between Nazi concepts and the mystic Crowley, he himself was far from their ideas, especially since his friend fell victim to fascist persecution. The mystic mentioned Hitler in passing, and only that this dictator turned out to be a failed magician.

Having spent many hours and days under the influence of drugs, the great magician reflects his transcendental experiences in two books: “The Diary of a Drug Addict” and “Cocaine.”

Having written these works at home, in the UK, he draws the reader into his travels with a vivid artistic language, and the reader, covered in his subtle humor, unexpectedly finds himself in the realities of life of a person capable of crossing to the other side of consciousness. This, of course, could not but arouse interest among the idle reading public.

The meaning of Crowley's personality

The Great Satanist or the Great Beast?.. – Who this person was, and whether he was a real person is unknown exactly. But his teaching is still alive, and glory is given to him in the Orders that are still alive and founded by Crowley. Works such as Gematria and the unexpected book “The Heart of Holy Rus'” are replete with aphorisms and sayings of a magnificent mystic.

The blasphemy of human rumor, which is trying to discredit his name, is just a reflection of his distant smile. He himself, like no one else, managed to distort any idea of ​​himself, most likely realizing that worthy descendants would no longer judge him by his actions, but by his rich creative and mystical experience and heritage.

The characters of many modern TV series become public property, whose behavior or catchphrases are often used in everyday life.

Crowley, who is one of the most charismatic characters series Supernatural. You can learn about his origin and amazing life path from this article.

Crowley's early years

At birth, this character was given the name Fergus MacLeod. The place of his birth was Canisbay, which is located in modern Scotland. The baby's mother was quite capable sorceress Rowena.

There are suggestions that she suffered as a result of an orgy in honor of the winter solstice. But the more familiar version remains the one where his father is a rich Scot who had an affair on the side.

Fergus was born in a rough shack, and the child's father abandoned Rowena almost immediately after his birth. As Crowley himself says, the identity of his father remained unknown to him.

A strong witch and part-time mother, Rowena was not ready to give up her witch career for the sake of the baby. Therefore, Crowley recalled how his own mother almost made a deal by trading three pigs for him.

The relationship between his mother and young Fergus was extremely bad, so Rowena often said that he would die in a ditch, and no one would care about his corpse. At the same time, the witch taught the child the simplest of her tricks, probably out of selfish intentions.

At the age of eight, his mother sent her son to the workhouse, saying that she would return for him in the evening. But Fergus never saw Rowena again.

Having matured, the guy mastered tailor's profession and began working as an apprentice. He found himself a wife who gave birth to his first child, Gavin. But a bad life made MacLeod addicted to drinking, so his son often got nuts from his drunkard father.

The latter even forbade him to go to parish school. The consequence of this was that the son hated my father even more than Fergus of his own parent.

Contact with otherworldly forces

Fergus' dissolute life at some point led him to meet the devil, to whom he, without hesitation, sold his soul. At the price of steel three inches to his manhood, since he always wanted to have a double digit figure. Death overtook Fergus at the age of 62, and Gavin buried him somewhere in a remote place in Scotland.

But death did not become the end point in the drama of this character’s existence. He went to hell, which was quite predictable, and took office crossroads demon.

His hard work earned him a “promotion,” after which he became Lilith’s assistant and eventually took over as her right-hand man.

Before Lucifer was imprisoned by his brothers, his peak career in Hell was the position of King of the Crossroads. Having gotten rid of the most prominent person in the underworld, it was Crowley who managed to receive the title of King of the Underworld.

Crowley's appearance and character

The demon chose as his vessel a famous literary agent, whom Crowley himself calls "best suit". At the same time, his interlocutors recognize him as an Englishman. The demon possesses red eyes, like other hell minions of its level, as well as a red smoke form.

This feature is an important difference in Crowley's appearance, since all other fiends have a dark, smoky form.

Considering the personality of this demon, one cannot help but notice his wit, as well as superhuman cunning. There is virtually no scam he can't pull off. This demon probably remains one of the best manipulators, able to influence human animal instincts. Interlocutors recognize Crowley as a skilled psychologist who will always find the right price for any transaction.

Among the repulsive features, it is worth noting the irrepressible conceit which borders on arrogance. The demon allows himself to be hypocritical and also uses threats. But it should be noted that Crowley always knows how to correctly read the person standing in front of him in order to understand what benefit he can provide for the demon.

So Crowley remains quite loyal to the Winchesters, never underestimating them, which distinguishes him from other demons.

From the outside, Crowley may seem quite friendly and gentle, especially in contrast to the other abodes of hell. But in practice it turns out that this is very cruel, and sometimes even completely merciless villain.

He takes great pleasure in torturing and in every possible way mocking his own victims. The main thing for a demon remains the preservation of his own life, regardless of the accompanying circumstances. This is what allowed him to eventually occupy the highest position in Hell.

We are with you again, wishing you good health.

Perhaps not everyone has heard the name of Aleister Crowley; some do not even know what kind of person he is. But you definitely know about tarot cards, well, at least you know that they exist, that they are used for fortune telling by various magicians, sorcerers, psychics and other similar brethren.

So, the inventor of one of the varieties of tarot cards, namely the Thoth tarot, is the hero of our article “ Aleister Crowley - biography of a black magician».

Aleister Crowley is credited with many epithets, such as mystic, satanist, occultist, kabbalist, tarot reader and even black magician; in addition, he is known as a poet and writer. And now we will introduce you to him.

Magician's personality

The personality of Aleister Crowley, his character, life views and principles are very complex and original. Highly intellectual by nature, Crowley possessed the qualities of a true egoist with pronounced vanity and ambition, which in the most mysterious way intertwined in him with outright naivety. Once, at the age of fifty, Alistair wrote in his diary that he did not feel like an adult at all.

Considering his specific philosophy and views, it is quite difficult to create an objective portrait of the magician and give a truthful assessment of the events in his life, to separate truth from fiction. For the reason that many opponents and enemies (and there were many of them) rejected, questioned and criticized the views and personality of Crowley himself.

And the supporters of his teaching, which he himself called the Law of Thelema, on the contrary, did not question and did not dare to criticize even the most egregious ideas, thus distorting their true meaning.

To make it clear, Crowley's motto "do what you will is the whole law" (implying the search for harmony with oneself), was interpreted by the masses as a call to action regarding free love and drug use, thus the magician was hailed as the unspoken hero of all hippies , while the social elite called him "the most depraved man in the world."

The biography of Aleister Crowley has nothing to do with any of these points of view; it is simply a description of his life, telling the facts without a touch of mythical judgments. And you, dear friends, will have to decide for yourself and figure out whether our hero was a real magician and prophet or just a very smart swindler who hid behind the veil of the occult to achieve his own goals. In any case, there are now many more followers of his teachings and admirers of his books than Crowley himself could have dreamed of during his lifetime.

Childhood and adolescence

Edward Alexander Crowley (his name at birth) was born in 1875 in the city of Leamington Spa, in the county of Warwickshire, in the family of a hereditary owner of a brewery and a chain of drinking establishments in the southeast of England.

Throughout Crowley's childhood, his parents raised him in the spirit of deep religiosity and strict asceticism. Every morning the family began by reading prayers and passages from the Bible. At the age of four, the boy already knew how to read; the only book allowed to him then was the Bible.

After the death of his father in 1887, the young mystic hit the rocks, as they say, he completely abandoned all religious beliefs, rituals and prayers of the Plymouth Brotherhood movement, to which his parents belonged, and under the auspices of which all his childhood years passed. Secretly read “undesirable” books. All the mother’s attempts to attract the boy to the Christian faith ended in nothing.

Can you imagine that Aleister’s own mother called Aleister “beast 666”, Crowley liked this nickname, and in his later life, he often called himself that.
The father then left his son no small fortune, so his youth passed quite carefree. There was no need to think about earning their daily bread.

Aleister Crowley himself wrote in his diary that he was raised in such a way that he had no idea that money had its own value; as soon as he wanted something, it was immediately paid for behind his back. Only he was not allowed to spend money on such “disgraceful” things as tobacco or books, or, even more disgusting, on women or the theater. Thus, he was completely unprepared for the practical side of life. But nevertheless, he was grateful to his relatives for being there.

At Trinity College, Cambridge University, where Crowley went to study in 1895, he decided to take a new name and signed himself Edward Aleister Crowley. In college, he studied psychology, philosophy and economics, and subsequently English literature. There, in college, he began to become interested in magic, mysticism, alchemy and the occult. He loved to play chess and was fond of mountaineering. College soon began to irritate Crowley with its monotony.

The mystic claims that on December 31, 1896, his life changed seriously. Then he was in Stockholm, and around midnight the understanding suddenly came to him that he possessed mystical powers that had been hidden until then; he seemed to have discovered a second - animal nature in himself, which was silent under the cover of the omnipotent and omnipresent saint, blooming in his soul. According to him, he experienced the highest spiritual ecstasy.

The following year, when Aleister Crowley became seriously ill, he had a second mystical experience. Under the yoke of illness, he thought about how frail and meaningless human existence is in the face of death. It was at that moment that he decided to become famous and leave a mark after his death. And for this he must do something that no one has ever done before, and the spiritual world turned out to be the ideal material for this. After all, the body and brain themselves have no meaning without such an instrument as the soul. He decided that the beginning of the study of the spiritual world should certainly be personal interaction with the devil and the study of black magic.

However, having embarked on his magical path, Crowley achieved even greater fame than he wanted.

In the same year, Crowley decided to study Russian and went to St. Petersburg, but nothing came of this venture because the language turned out to be very difficult, and its study was as boring and monotonous as studying in college. Alistair left Russia, but this trip made an indelible impression on him.

At the age of twenty-three, Crowley left Cambridge University and published his first book of poetry, Akeldama (Philosophical Poem).

In the same year he became a member of the magical order “Golden Dawn”. Adherents of the order (also called the “Hermetic Order”) practiced alchemy, magic and theurgy (this is the practical influence through rituals on angels, archangels, gods and demons). It was the most influential occult community in England at the end of the nineteenth century.

There he is engaged in mysticism; after the collapse of the order, the mystic went to Mexico, where he continued his studies and experiments. He was actively involved in Raja and meditation, to which in his ontological essay “Berashit” he attributes the properties of a ritual that helps achieve goals by concentrating thoughts and attention on the desired object, and also provides some comments on ritual magic.

Relationships and sex

Besides mysticism, Crowley had another passion - sex. And he devoted himself fully to this passion (if you can call it that). The mystic led a very active sex life, completely unrestraining his desires and vices. He believed that sex was very useful creatively and intellectually. And being a passionate person, who also had impressive capital, Crowley most often used the services of girls of easy virtue, not burdened with special intelligence, culture and intelligence.

If he abstained for more than forty-eight hours, his mind became dull. With the help of carnal pleasures, he confirmed his magical abilities; they were for him a challenge to the Christian faith and the Plymouth Brotherhood.

His attitude towards women was hostile, affected by his relationship with his own mother, he believed that women should be used, treated as one of life’s conveniences and oppressed, this is precisely what they are needed for. Although, at the same time, he admitted that he felt good in the company of women and considered it his duty to give them sexual satisfaction.

And in his poems, Crowley exalts and idealizes women, or gives them a metaphorical image of demons who crave sex. There are some reasons to argue that Aleister Crowley, in addition to free heterosexual relationships, did not neglect sadomasochism and homosexuality. The latter in those days was considered a criminal offense and was considered in court; for this reason, Crowley himself was not particularly advertised.

Crowley could not stand routine, constantly traveling, looking for new experiences and new thoughts. He traveled to various exotic places, lived for some time in London and Paris, where he met people who played a significant role in his future fate, in particular Gerald Kelly and his sister Rose.

The mystic was an ardent opponent of marriage, because he believed that it limited human freedom and despised monogamy. However, these beliefs did not prevent him from marrying, albeit for convenience, and even more than once, but more on that later.

Marriage and “scarlet women”

Rose was engaged to a lawyer, not of her own free will, but because of the harsh dictates of her mother. Rose herself was in an affair with a married man. She told Crowley her story, thereby causing his indignation (he himself had previously experienced pressure from his mother).

Rose and Alistair with their child

Crowley decided to help Rose in a very strange way - he invited her to enter into an allegedly fictitious marriage with him. When everything happened, Alistair was overcome by ambivalent feelings, but he reassured himself that he would not have to live with her under the same roof, but simply made her free. After the ceremony at the local sheriff, the newlyweds separated.

Rose returned to her mother and brother, who were beside themselves with rage, and her fiancé, a lawyer, tried to dissolve the unwanted marriage. However, subsequently the “newly made” husband and wife developed not only friendly, but loving feelings for each other.

Crowley even decided that they needed a real honeymoon, and they went on a trip, during which they even managed to spend the night in the main hall of the Great Pyramid of Giza. The mystic thus wanted to show his wife what kind of magician he was. There he read a book of spells, performing a magical ritual of calling the Egyptian god Horus, after which the cave was filled with a special light, and by morning Rose simply fainted.

But during this experience, Crowley realized that some magical entity had come into contact with his wife. Rose became for Crowley a real “scarlet woman” - a woman who can come into contact with spirits and entities and convey their messages.

She even once, during a magical ritual, brought her husband to a museum located at a sufficient distance from the place of the ceremony itself, and pointing to a shelf with exhibits, she said that this was the one who was waiting for Crowley. The god Horus stood on the shelf, and his number in the museum catalog was 666.

Rose and Alistair had one child - a girl who died at the age of two and a half years; after some time, a second child appeared in the Crowley family, also a girl, who was named Lola Zaza. During his marriage to Rose (1907 to be exact), Crowley founded his own Silver Star order, continuing his occult experiments.

In 2009, the couple divorced at Crowley's insistence due to Rose's alcoholism.

The next woman Crowle became seriously interested in, not counting a series of casual relationships, was the thirty-year-old Australian violinist Leila in 2010, then he wrote the stories “The Fox” and “The Violinist” (literally in the first days of their acquaintance). Leila was not a “scarlet woman,” but he performed various magical rituals to her music.

The next companion and part-time “scarlet woman” for Crowley was Isadora Duncan’s friend Mary.

Crowley was treated for bronchitis with opium; he described a dream he had under the influence of narcotic fumes in his story “The Trick.”

By this time, Alistair had already managed to spend all of his fortune, and he was, to put it mildly, unsuited to earning money in the service, not trained, and he had no desire to do so. The solution to this problem was the sale of a house in Scotland, which Crowley loved very much and considered part of his soul. After this, Crowley actively engaged in rock climbing, which improved his health. In 1916, Leila came to him, and they were still together for several years. During his occult sessions, Crowley conducted various experiments with drugs.

In 1920, Crowley founded the so-called “Abbey of Thelema”, where he conducted his endless magical experiments with the participation of the “scarlet women” and his other supporters and followers. Many of these experiments were more like sex-drug orgies with a touch of Satanism and the occult.

Crowley spent the rest of his life surviving on only occasional sources of income. The mystic had several more serious (if you can call it that, rather fateful) relationships, he got married, and had more children.

Teachings of Thelema

Crowley was a fan of the work of the writer François Rabelais, his novel “Gargantua and Pantagruel” (The French word “Thélème” is mentioned there, the name of the abbey, whose adherents adhered to the principle of “do what you want”) led Crowley to create his own teaching of Thelema.

Postulates of Crowley's Thelema teachings:

• a person is free to do what he wants, this is the law;
• every man and every woman, that is, every person is a star;
• love is considered only in accordance with the will, it is the law;
• a person has no other right than to act in accordance with his true will.

Crowley's system of Thelema was set down on paper in The Book of the Law in Egypt, during his honeymoon with his wife Rose. The mystic himself said that the book was written in three days under the dictation of his guardian angel, Aiwass, whom he not only heard, but also, looking at him secretly (it was forbidden to look at Aiwass), saw him.

The magician considered true will to be the true meaning of human existence. Each person, in his opinion, must, with the help of consciousness, prevail over the subconscious, he must find his true will - this is the goal of all life. Moreover, this search does not require the help of God or any religious scriptures or guides.

In 1944, the magician wrote the last of his particularly significant books, entitled The Book of Thoth, in which he interpreted the teachings of the tarot cards. He believed that the trump cards of the tarot deck were symbols of all the energies of the universe, he decided to create a new deck in which all the principles of his “Book of the Law” would be relentlessly traced.

He created a new deck consisting of seventy-eight cards with the help of artist Frida Harres.

Aleister Crowley died at the age of seventy-two in Great Britain from asthma on December 1, 1947.

Many mysterious facts from Crowley’s biography that cannot be explained from a logical point of view, which are not covered in this article, can be found in his books and books written about him.

If you are interested in learning more about the work, views, and teachings of one of the greatest occultists of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, you can purchase books based on the works of Aleister Crowley. You might be interested in tarot cards.

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Aleister Crowley's childhood

Aleister Crowley's real name is Edward Alexander Crowley. He was born on October 12, 1875 in the English town of Leamington Spa, located in Warwickshire.

Aleister Crowley's parents were devout people and members of the Christian sect "Plymouth Brethren", so young Aleister Crowley from early childhood was surrounded by biblical mythology and worldview, which had a different effect than they expected: instead of a great love for religion, it led to an acute skepticism, especially after the death of his father. All attempts to forcibly introduce Aleister Crowley to Christianity ended in his strong rejection, which later became one of the reasons for accusing him of Satanism, and Aleister Crowley himself for trying to find an alternative to Christianity.

Some researchers of the biography of Aleister Crowley claim that he often had serious conflicts with his mother, whom he drove into a rage with his atheism and sarcasm regarding Christianity, during which she angrily called him a beast 666.” Subsequently, Aleister Crowley himself often used this as a pseudonym.

The Youth of Aleister Crowley

After graduating from school in 1895, Aleister Crowley entered Trinity College, Cambridge University, thanks not only to his well-developed intellect, but also to the good inheritance left by his father.

At the beginning of his studies, Aleister Crowley became interested in such sciences as philosophy and psychology, but then the emphasis shifted towards English literature.

Also during his studies, Aleister Crowley became actively interested in chess and mountaineering. Moreover, the latter became Aleister Crowley’s real passion: every year from 1894 to 1898. he spent his holidays in the Alps, climbing mountains.

The Beginning of Aleister Crowley's Occult Path

Aleister Crowley's serious fascination with the occult began at the turn of 1896-1897. It was then that he started studying books on mysticism, magic, alchemy and so on. It was also the first time Aleister Crowley thought deeply about the frailty of human existence and all the circumstances arising from this - the meaning of life, the purpose of his path, and so on.

As a result of rethinking his existence, Aleister Crowley quits university and goes “free swimming”, looking for and finding acquaintances in various occult circles.

Crowley and the Order of the Golden Dawn

In 1898, one of the turning points in the fate of Aleister Crowley occurs - he meets the chemist Julian L. Baker. This meeting took place in Zermatt (Switzerland). Aleister Crowley and Baker immediately found a common language, especially due to their passion for alchemy and the occult. As a result, upon his return to London, Baker introduced Aleister Crowley to George Cecil Jones, one of the members of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. After some period of communication, Aleister Crowley from S.L. himself. MacGregor Mathers was initiated into the neophyte degree of the Golden Dawn and given the new name "Brother Perdurabo", which means "I will endure to the end." This memorable event took place on November 18, 1898 and took place at the Mark Masons' Hall in London.

The New Life of Aleister Crowley

After joining the Order of the Golden Dawn, Aleister Crowley began a new life. He finally moves from the hotel to a new apartment, where he equips two rooms for magical activities - one for practicing white magic, the other for black magic.

Then Aleister Crowley has a personal mentor in ceremonial magic, Alan Bennett, a fellow member of the Order of the Golden Dawn. They lived together for some time, but then the latter left for Ceylon.

During this period, Aleister Crowley passed all the degrees of the first, Outer Order and received initiation into the Inner Order.

Yoga and Aleister Crowley

In 1900, Aleister Crowley and his mountaineer friend Oscar Eckenstein traveled to Mexico, where they made a series of difficult climbs to mountain peaks, including Iztaccihuatl and Popocatépetl. Aleister Crowley and his friend tried to conquer Colima, but the “assault” had to be interrupted due to a volcanic eruption.

But all this was important for Aleister Crowley not to conquer the peaks, but to become familiar with the methods of Raja Yoga. It was Oscar Eckenstein who suggested to him that yoga could teach him to control his thoughts and occult abilities.

Having received his first yoga lessons from his friend, Aleister Crowley also sent him to Ceylon to visit his friend Alan Bennett, who had gone there earlier.

There, Aleister Crowley comprehends the secrets of yoga and achieves considerable results in it, after which he decides to comprehend this teaching even more deeply, for which he goes to India.

Family life of Aleister Crowley

In 1903, Crowley married Rose Edith Kelly, the sister of his friend Gerald Kelly, who was a close friend of the writer Somerset Maugham. The latter, in one of his works (“The Magician”) will make Aleister Crowley the prototype of one of the characters.

Some researchers argue that initially the marriage of Aleister Crowley and Rose was a marriage of convenience, but Aleister Crowley very quickly sincerely and passionately fell in love with his chosen one.

In 1904, Aleister Crowley and his wife Rose had a daughter, Nuit Ma Ahator Hecate Sappho Jezebel Lilith Crowley. But, unfortunately, the girl died at the age of two and a half years.

Some time later, Aleister Crowley's second daughter, Lola Zaza, was born.

Crowley and the Thelema

As a result of many different occult experiments, especially those carried out by Aleister Crowley in Egypt, he came to the basis of his teaching, which later became known as Thelema.

In addition to the internal searches of Aleister Crowley himself, an important event that marked the “official” beginning of Thelema is the mysterious incident that happened to his wife.

One day, Aleister Crowley noticed that his wife Rose began to behave strangely. And since he constantly carried out various occult rituals and experiments, he assumed that some kind of astral entity - a spirit or god - had come into contact with her. Wanting to check whether this was so, Aleister Crowley performed a magical ritual of invoking the Egyptian god Horus, which gave very tangible results, in particular, it turned out that through his wife a certain superbeing was really trying to conduct a dialogue with him - a god, namely Horus (the god of strength and fire, son of Isis and Osiris).

According to Aleister Crowley himself, God told him that a new magical eon had begun, in which Aleister Crowley himself should become his prophet.

The supreme moral law of the New Aeon was declared to be the principle “Do your will: such be the whole law,” supplemented by the formula: “Love is the law, love in accordance with the will.”

According to one version, Rose’s strange behavior was due to the fact that Aleister Crowley, wanting to entertain his wife, performed a magical ritual in front of her to summon sylphs (air spirits). But she did not see them, but instead fell into a trance and began frantically repeating “They are waiting for you.” As it later turned out, “they” were the god Horus and his messenger.

"The Book of the Law" by Aleister Crowley

After Aleister Crowley found out who his wife came into contact with, even more amazing events began.

The Book of the Law itself is a very mysterious work, part of which is a digital code that even Aleister Crowley himself could not decipher.

The Mystical Case of Aleister Crowley's Wife

One mystical incident was associated with the establishment of astral contact between the Crowley couple and the god Horus, which dispelled Aleister Crowley’s last doubts regarding recent prophetic events.

Almost immediately after the revelation, Aleister Crowley and his wife visited the Bulak Museum, where Rose, on the first try, pointed out the image of the god Horus on the little-known funeral stele of the priest Ankh-ef-na-Khonsu (7th century BC). It turned out that the stele has its own name and is called “The Stele of Revelation”! But, moreover, to his amazement, Aleister Crowley discovered that in the museum catalog the stele was listed under number 666 - the famous “Number of the Beast”. How could he not remember that his own mother often called him “the beast 666.” Aleister Crowley decided that such coincidences could not be accidental.

The mystical case of Aleister Crowley himself

The Crowleys loved to travel. And then one day, when they were in China, a mysterious incident happened to Aleister Crowley himself, which made him take a fresh look at his own life.

It was like this: Aleister Crowley carelessly fell from a forty-foot cliff, but in some inexplicable way he remained alive, although death was inevitable. This incident finally convinced Aleister Crowley that higher powers were guarding him for the sake of an important messiah, namely to be the prophet of a new occult era, a new spiritual truth. Therefore, he finally decides to completely devote himself to this field.

As a result, Aleister Crowley, having memorized the “Preliminary Invocation” from the “Goetia”, began to call his Guardian Angel with it every morning.

"Tarot of Thoth" by Aleister Crowley

The deck of Tarot cards he created, known as the “Tarot of Thoth,” brought great popularity to Aleister Crowley.

In this enterprise, the artist Frieda Harris, also an expert in the field of Egyptology, provided invaluable and great assistance to Aleister Crowley.

Aleister Crowley filled each tarot card with deep symbolism and complete astrological correspondence, which he commented on in detail in his “Book of Thoth.”

The Thoth Tarot deck was published only in 1969 along with a reissue of the book.

Crowley's "Silver Star" and "Mysteria Mystica Maxima"

In 1907, Aleister Crowley founded his own occult order, the Silver Star.

In 1912, Theodor Reuss accused Aleister Crowley of divulging the secrets of the Order of the Eastern Templars, publishing them for public consumption, thereby violating the unspoken agreement of the mystics to keep their secrets from the uninitiated. Aleister Crowley rejected these accusations, pointing out that he did not have the level of initiation at which these secrets were generally accessible, in other words, he could not talk about what he simply did not know.

One way or another, this “clash”, oddly enough, led to the opening of the British branch of the Order of the Eastern Templars, called “Mysteria Mystica Maxima”.

Hype and scandals around Aleister Crowley

The personality of Aleister Crowley became more and more noticeable every year, which naturally led to the fact that his name began to become surrounded by idle gossip and scandals. Now, it’s difficult to say which of all this actually happened and which was simply the truth distorted by envious people, especially considering that Aleister Crowley himself was, on the contrary, “spurring” the rumor with some shocking trick.

The biggest scandal was associated with the so-called “Abbey of Thelema”, founded by Aleister Crowley in 1920 in Cefalu in Sicily. In essence, it was a “commune” in which followers of Aleister Crowley lived. They said that they were doing something strange there: satanic magical rituals, drug use, incredibly depraved orgies, and so on and so forth. The level of Aleister Crowley's immorality was particularly raised by the tragic incident of his disciple, who allegedly died from drinking a cup of cat's blood, allegedly given to them by Aleister Crowley.

This case received a lot of attention in the press, and in April the Italian police ordered Aleister Crowley to leave Sicily. And although many influential people stood up for him, and although a petition was sent to the authorities, signed by all the prominent citizens of Cefalu, nothing helped - Aleister Crowley left the country and went to Tunisia.

Travels of Aleister Crowley

In 1926-1928, Aleister Crowley traveled to North Africa, France and Germany. In the latter country, he marries Nicaraguan Maria Ferrari de Miramar.

Aleister Crowley and Hitler

It is common among the general public to associate the name of Aleister Crowley with Nazi occultism, because it is believed that his ideas had a profound influence on Hitler. This may be true, but in fact, Aleister Crowley himself spoke negatively about the Nazi leader. Moreover, Karl Germer, Aleister Crowley’s friend and sponsor, was arrested by the Nazi government on charges of “collaboration with the enemy of the Reich,” namely the Freemason Aleister Crowley. Which, naturally, did not awaken in him any love for the fascists. But, unfortunately, the fame of the “Satanist” Aleister Crowley firmly “stuck” to the true embodiments of evil.

The Literary Heritage of Aleister Crowley

Aleister Crowley left behind a large and varied literary legacy. Aleister Crowley's most famous books include “The Book of the Law”, “The Book of Thoth”, “Equinox of the Gods”, “8 Lectures on Yoga”, “Magic in Theory and Practice” and many others.

In addition to books on the occult, Aleister Crowley also left behind poetic works. He published his first collection of poems in his youth, just in time for his student years - in 1898.

Also included in the literary heritage of Aleister Crowley is the fantasy novel “Moon Child” and several other works of fiction.

Death of Aleister Crowley

Unfortunately, the last years of Aleister Crowley's life were marred by poverty and misunderstanding. He had to wander a lot and needed money. A number of biographers and historians claim that during that period he became addicted to heroin.

Shortly before his death, Aleister Crowley met Gerald Gardner, the founder of Wicca, on whom he had a considerable influence.

On December 5, Aleister Crowley's body was cremated in Brighton. At the funeral, in accordance with his last will, selected passages from his “Book of the Law” and the “Hymn to Pan”, composed by him shortly before his death, were read.

Some people call Aleister Crowley a philosopher and occultist, others a great black magician, a follower of Edgar Allan Poe and predecessor of Burroughs. But the fact remains that without this man, the counterculture of the 20th century would have lost its most original features - dedication and marginality. He left behind controversial literary works - from manuals on magic to extreme erotic novels, as well as many myths and legends that surround his person. Our review contains 10 of Crowley's statements that today can neither be proven nor disproved.

1. Using the "V" as a symbol of victory - Crowley's idea

During World War II, Crowley was friends with spy Ian Fleming, author of the James Bond novels. Some have said that Crowley was a spy himself, while others claim that he carried out propaganda work to persuade Americans to enter the war on the side of the British. Aleister Crowley also claimed that Winston Churchill himself listened to him, and when the time came to develop a symbol that would rally the Allied troops, it was allegedly Crowley’s suggestion that the “V” sign appeared. Supposedly, it was a magical mystical sign that called upon the power of Apophis and Typhon and directed destructive power against the user of the sign.

2. Crowley and the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn

After Crowley became a significant figure in the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, just a few years after his initiation in 1898, he fell out with the secret society. According to Crowley, he became disillusioned with the organization when he realized that people undergoing initiation often had no idea about mysticism, rites and rituals. He stated that although the order's founder, MacGregor Mathers, had some mystical powers, he had essentially "bitten off more than he could chew" and Mathers' actions destroyed the order.

3. Invisibility according to Crowley

After breaking with the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, Crowley went first to Paris and then jumped across the ocean. While in Mexico he founded his own order, the Lamp of Invisible Light. According to Crowley, his practices in the Order of the Golden Dawn were just a warm-up, and in Mexico he learned many ancient secret knowledge. During this time, he allegedly discovered how to make himself invisible. In fact, Crowley explained that this has nothing to do with true invisibility. His secret knowledge made it possible to control the environment, falling out of the attention of others.

4. Aiwass

The concept of aiwass has been interpreted in different ways throughout the evolution of Crowley's beliefs. In 1904, Crowley wrote The Book of the Law, allegedly under the guidance of the otherworldly entity "Aiwass". The book was to become the basis of a new religion called Thelema, which, according to Crowley, would change the world. Aiwass then appeared in the role of a certain envoy. By 1929, Crowley had created a more formulaic method of magick, writing Magick in Theory and Practice. Aiwass became something of a Satan or demonic guardian angel. Moreover, by this time, Crowley had declared that he was the prophet of a new teaching.

5. Crowley's Eucharist

The Eucharist is a symbolic action or sacrament in Christianity, as well as one of Crowley's most secret rituals. Crowley developed the so-called “Phoenix Mass” - a ritual of the Eucharist (communion), which should be performed at sunset. This ritual was first published in The Book of Lies in 1913 and later in Magic in Theory and Practice. Crowley believed that the Phoenix Mass was one of the most important Thelemic (his new religion) rituals and should be performed daily.

6. Jack Parsons and L. Ron Hubbard

During the 1940s, the United States worked on some quite innovative projects, including rocket development. Jack Parsons is a researcher at Caltech who laid the foundation for further rocketry research and NASA Jet Propulsion Labs. However, then Parsons with Aleister Crowley (who was already well known) and L. Ron Hubbard (at that time a minor science fiction writer). Parsons did not consider it necessary to hide his connection with Crowley, and the US government fired him. After this he continued his correspondence with Crowley and became the head of his Order of the Eastern Templars in America. Parsons eventually became friends with Hubbard, much to the displeasure of Crowley, who called Hubbard a complete charlatan.

7. Crowley and yoga

Yoga has become a fashionable trend today. People all over the world are doing it. Aleister Crowley argued that everything in the world is interconnected, and yoga is a way of connecting the mind and subconscious to the world around a person. He said that only through yoga can a person truly experience anything.

8. Basics of Thelema

A similar concept has existed for a long time, but it was Aleister Crowley who created a mixture of Western ideals and Eastern mysticism that he called Thelema. It's kind of a strange philosophy that can be applied in many different forms and interpreted differently by different people. The best known of the general principles is "Do what thou wilt, and it shall be the Law." Thelema also states that "Love is the law, love in accordance with the will." It is through the act of love that people lose their sense of loneliness and begin to move towards what they expected to achieve on Earth. Crowley also stated that there is no such thing as original sin, and that every person is a divine being. Besides, the real virtues are Christian modesty and charity, and things like courage and honor.

9. Erotic-comatose clarity

Anyone who knows even the most basic about Crowley has probably heard that he was involved with sex magic. His writings on this topic are incredibly deep and full of rituals, officially called "erotic-comatose clarity." A person who is preparing to walk the spiritual path goes through some kind of basic physical and sports training. Then, during the ritual, a pair of servants (the more experienced, the better) “exhausts all the man’s powers sexually.” The goal is to stop a person halfway between sleep and arousal. According to Crowley, in this state a person’s spirit is free, then he is ready to contact other spirits.

10. Rationality of magic

It is unknown who wrote the Goetia (part of the Lesser Key of King Solomon), and, in particular, the description of 72 different demons. But the final version of the book was collected and published by Aleister Crowley in 1904 (the same year he contacted Aiwass and wrote The Book of the Law). Along with instructions on how to summon demons and descriptions of the forms they take, Crowley also included a rather fascinating rationale for why summoning works.

According to Crowley, magical phenomena consist of six things: touch, taste, smell, sight, hearing and mind. The first five, depending on how you stimulate them, cause changes in the brain that then manifest as magical results. After the mind processes the information it receives from the senses, it sends the results back to the physical world, and this means that all demons and devils come from the mind of a person.

Mysticism is always an attractive topic for creative people. - is as much a mystery as what kind of moods are hidden behind his paintings.