Aleister Crowley

Edward Alexander Crowley, known as Aleister Crowley (Royal Leamington Spa, 1875 – Hastings, 1947), was a British occultist, poet, novelist, painter and mountaineer. He founded the religion of Thelema and presented himself as its prophet, charged with leading humanity into what he called the Æon of Horus. Much of his work was written in English, and he remains an important reference for anyone studying modern esotericism.

He was born into a wealthy family with evangelical roots in the Plymouth Brethren. His father died when he was eleven, and his relationship with his mother was strained; she called him 'the Beast', a name he later embraced. He soon rejected the Christianity of his upbringing and studied at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he developed interests in poetry and mountain climbing and began using the name Aleister. Some biographers claim he was recruited there by British intelligence, though the claim has never been proven.

In 1898 he joined the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, where he trained in ceremonial magic. He then travelled to Mexico and India, and in 1904 he married Rose Edith Kelly. On their honeymoon in Cairo he wrote The Book of the Law, which he said had been dictated to him by a non-human entity called Aiwass. The text became the foundation of Thelema, whose central injunction, 'Do what thou wilt', urges followers to align themselves with their True Will through ceremonial practice. Thelema is the Greek word for 'will'.

Between 1907 and 1912 he co-founded the A∴A∴ and joined the German-based Ordo Templi Orientis, which he reshaped around Thelemic principles. During the First World War he lived in the United States, where he took up painting and openly supported Germany; later biographers revealed he had in fact helped British intelligence. In 1920 he founded the Abbey of Thelema in Cefalù, Sicily, but the Italian government expelled him in 1923. He spent the next two decades moving between France, Germany and England.

In his lifetime he was notorious for his drug use, his bisexuality and his individualist criticism of society, though he attracted few followers. After his death he became a cult figure, and his influence reached the counterculture of the 1960s. Today he is remembered mainly for his writings on magic, and he is still regarded as a prophet within Thelema. His life has been the subject of several biographies and academic studies.