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, which is located in Warwickshire.

Aleister Crowley's parents were devout people and belonged to the Christian sect "Plymouth Brothers", so young Aleister Crowley was surrounded from early childhood 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 subsequently became one of the reasons for accusing him of Satanism, and Aleister Crowley himself in attempts to find an alternative to Christianity.

Some researchers of Aleister Crowley's biography argue that he often had serious conflicts with his mother, whom he infuriated with his atheism and sarcasm towards Christianity, during which she in her hearts called him a beast 666. Subsequently, Aleister Crowley himself often used this as a pseudonym.

Aleister Crowley's youth

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

At the beginning of his studies, Aleister Crowley was 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 a real passion of Aleister Crowley: annually 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 interest in the occult began at the turn of 1896-1897. It was then that he sat down to study books on mysticism, magic, alchemy, and so on. The same Aleister Crowley for the first time deeply thought about the frailty of human existence and about all the circumstances that follow from this - the meaning of life, the purpose of his path, and so on.

As a result of rethinking his life, Aleister Crowley leaves the university and goes on a "free voyage", 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 life of Aleister Crowley takes place - he meets the chemist Julian L. Baker. This meeting took place in Zermatt (Switzerland). Aleister Crowley and Baker immediately found a common language, especially on the basis of their hobby 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 a period of communication, Aleister Crowley from S.L. himself. MacGregor Mathers was ordained a neophyte of the Golden Dawn and was renamed Brother Perdurabo, which means I will endure to the end. This memorable event took place on November 18, 1898 and took place in London's Hall of the Mark Masons.

Aleister Crowley's new life

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 in the Order of the Golden Dawn. For some time they lived together, 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 friend, mountaineer Oscar Eckenstein, took a trip to Mexico, where they made a number of difficult ascents to mountain peaks, among which were Istaxihuatl and Popocatepetl. Aleister Crowley and his friend tried to conquer Colima, but the "assault" had to be interrupted due to a volcanic eruption.

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

Having received the first yoga lessons from his friend, Aleister Crowley also sends him to Ceylon to his friend Alan Bennett, who left 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 deeper, for which he travels to India.

Aleister Crowley's family life

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 ardently fell in love with his chosen one.

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

After some time, Aleister Crowley's second daughter, Lola Zaza, was born.

Crowley and the teachings of Thelema

As a result of many different occult experiments, especially those carried out by Aleister Crowley in Egypt, he comes to the foundation 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.

Once Aleister Crowley noticed that his wife Rose began to behave in a strange way. And since he constantly conducted various occult rituals and experiments, he assumed that some kind of astral entity - a spirit or a god - came into contact with her. Wanting to check whether this is so, Aleister Crowley conducted 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 super-being is really trying to dialogue with him - a god, namely Horus (the god of power and fire, son of Isis and Osiris).

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

The highest moral law of the New Aeon was declared 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 didn’t see them, but instead fell into a trance and began to repeat “They are waiting for you.” As it turned out later, “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

With the establishment of the astral contact of the Crowley couple with the god Horus, her one mystical incident is connected, which dispelled Aleister Crowley's last doubts about recent prophetic events.

Almost immediately after the revelation, Aleister Crowley and his wife visited the Bulak Museum, where Rose, on the first attempt, pointed to the image of the god Horus on the little-known funerary stele of the priest Ankh-f-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's catalog the stele was listed under the 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 Crowley couple 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 inadvertently fell off a cliff forty feet high, but at the same time he somehow inexplicably remained alive, although death was inevitable. This incident finally convinced Aleister Crowley that higher powers were keeping him for the sake of an important messiah, namely to be a prophet of a new occult era, a new spiritual truth. Therefore, he finally decides to devote himself entirely to this field.

As a result, Aleister Crowley, having memorized the "Pre-invocation" from the "Goetia", began to call on him his Guardian Angel every morning.

"Tarot Tota" by Aleister Crowley

Aleister Crowley became very popular with the tarot deck he created, known as the "Tarot Tota".

In this enterprise, Aleister Crowley was greatly helped by the artist Frida Harris, who is also a specialist in the field of Egyptology.

Aleister Crowley filled each tarot card with deep symbolism, full astrological correspondence, which he commented in sufficient detail in his "Book of Thoth".

The Tarot Tota deck was published only in 1969, together with the reprint of the book.

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

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

In 1912, Theodore Reuss accused Aleister Crowley of divulging the secrets of the "Order of the Eastern Templars", publishing them for public knowledge, thus violating the tacit agreement of the mystics to keep their secrets from the uninitiated. Aleister Crowley rejected this accusation, pointing out that he did not have the degree of initiation at which these secrets were generally available, in other words, he could not tell about what he simply didn’t know.

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

The 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 grow overgrown with idle gossip and scandals. Now, it is difficult to say which of all that was in fact, and which was simply the truth distorted by envious people, especially when you consider that Aleister Crowley himself was opposite to "whip up" the rumor with some outrageous trick.

Most of the scandal was associated with the so-called "Abbey" of Thelema ", founded by Aleister Crowley in 1920 in Cefalu, Sicily. In fact, it was a "commune" in which the followers of Aleister Crowley lived. They said that they were doing something strange there: satanic magic rituals, drug use, incredibly depraved orgies, and so on and so forth. Especially the degree of Aleister Crowley's immorality was raised by the tragic incident with his student, who allegedly died from drinking a cup of cat blood, allegedly brought to him by Aleister Crowley.

The case had a lot of media coverage, 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 signed by all prominent citizens of Cefalu was sent to the authorities, nothing helped - Aleister Crowley left the country and went to Tunisia.

Aleister Crowley's Travels

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

Aleister Crowley and Hitler

It is generally accepted by the general public to associate the name of Aleister Crowley with Nazi occultism, because it is believed that his ideas had a deep influence on Hitler. Maybe this is so, but in fact, Aleister Crowley himself spoke negatively about the Nazi leader. Moreover, Karl Germer, a friend and sponsor of Aleister Crowley, was arrested by the Nazi government on charges of “collaborating with the enemy of the Reich,” namely the Freemason Aleister Crowley. Which, of course, did not awaken in him love for the Nazis. But, unfortunately, the fame of "Satanist" Aleister Crowley has firmly "stuck" to the true embodiment of evil.

Aleister Crowley's literary legacy

Aleister Crowley left behind a large and varied literary legacy. The most famous books by Aleister Crowley 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 left behind poetry. He published his first collection of poems in his youth, just right for students - in 1898.

Also to the literary heritage of Aleister Crowley is the fantastic novel "Moon Child", and several other works of art.

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, in need of money. A number of biographers and historians claim that during this period he became addicted to heroin.

Shortly before his death, Aleister Crowley met Gerald Gardner, the founder of Wicca, who was influenced by him.

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.

Aleister Crowley is a famous poet from England, tarologist, occultist, kabbalist and satanist of the 19-20th centuries. For many followers, he still remains one of the most significant ideologues of the occult.

Aleister's real name is Edward Alexander Crowley. He was born on October 12, 1875 in the UK. The boy's father was an engineer who owned his own private brewery. The mother was engaged in the household. It so happened that Edward's parents became members of the Plymouth Brothers sect. Throughout his childhood, the child was forced to read the Bible and be faithful to Christianity.

Aleister Crowley

However, it all ended after Alexander's father passed away. The mother could no longer instill in the boy an interest in faith. The more she tried to instill in him love for God, the more the woman met with resistance on her way.

Scandals went so far that the mother called her own son beast 666... Nevertheless, the boy liked this nickname very much and later in his adult life he often called himself that way. In 1895, Crowley graduated from high school and entered the College of the Holy Trinity, Cambridge University.

Initially, he rushed to study economics, psychology, and philosophy. However, not without the influence of his teacher, he realized that he was closer to English literature. During his time at university, Crowley carelessly squandered his rich inheritance and enjoyed life.

Beginning in the winter of 1896, Edward realized that he was attracted by mysticism and the occult. The very next year he began to study magic, mysticism and alchemy in more detail.

Alistair's illness turned out to be fatal, since it was he who pushed him to reflect on the death, the frailty of human existence. His first book was published in 1898, after which the guy left the university and made an acquaintance with Julian Baker and Samuel Mathers.

Joining the Golden Dawn Order

Since 1898 Alexander has been a member of the Golden Dawn Order. It was there that he made himself two strong and influential rivals - William Yates and Arthur Waite.

The conflict happened due to the fact that Crowley did not hide his attitude towards his brothers and positioned them as arrogant bores, constantly criticizing their works. Crowley managed to humiliate his rivals subtly and skillfully. They were reflected in his novels, and their images were used to create extremely unpleasant characters.

Beginning in 1890, Crowley began to gradually become disillusioned with his mentor Samuel Mathers. That is why he goes on a trip to Mexico, where he continues to study magical art on his own. Alistair officially left the Golden Dawn in 1904.

In 1901, a man is already actively practicing Raja yoga. His own knowledge was reflected in the essay "Berashit". There meditation is presented to the reader as a method by which one can achieve one's goal. Alexander speaks of the ceremony of magic as a way of hardening the will.

Thelema and the law of the left hand

If we turn to the meaning of the word , then we learn that in translation from ancient Greek it means "Will". Here you can recall the main principle of Alistair's teachings:

Do what you want, that's the whole Law and Love is the law, Love obeys the Will.

Thelema itself is a religious movement that Crowley developed. It was based on the magical teachings of the sage Abramelin. Moreover, his doctrine was based on Kabbalah. At the time of the development of such a movement as Thelem, Crowley was a fairly well-known member of the Golden Dawn Order.

The fact that he was able to meet with his holy spirit Aivas pushed him to develop his religious movement. It seems like it was this spirit that whispered to Crowley the text of his future Book of the Laws.

It is worth noting that almost all the teachings of the Great and terrible Satanist are not just based, but even borrowed from an ancient denomination called the "Left Hand Path". It is worth noting that Crowley often tried to pass off other people's achievements as his own. At the same time, the very basis of the system, which he seems to have created, belongs to François Rabelais and Pascal Randolph.

It is interesting that everything that Alexander borrowed from his more experienced associates, he completely distorted and presented in a different light. For example, originally, the Left Hand Path involved the use of the feminine and masculine principles in order to master sex magic.

Moreover, in this case, the feminine principle was considered divine, and the masculine was only an addition to it. As you know, Crowley was a terrible misogynist and racist.

Therefore, he could not admit the supremacy of the feminine principle in his own created cult. He believed that a girl cannot become an initiate, since she is unworthy of this and is just a tool that can be used to achieve the assigned tasks. However, despite the obvious imperfection of the Thelema, the doctrine had many followers.

Crowley tried to equip temples wherever he lived. It should be noted that the rituals performed there were not the most pleasant. There were bloody animal sacrifices, perverted sexual orgies. At this moment, Crowley's entire personality appears as a simple madman, not a great genius.

The man begins to feed his followers with strange ideas that are now beyond comprehension. Alistair assured that in order to become a truly strong magician, it is necessary to contract syphilis, as this is one of the most valuable experiences.

The ritual was also quite popular, in which it was necessary to catch a toad, give it gifts, like a little Jesus, and then crucify the toad on the cross. Having said this:

Here you are, Jesus of Nazareth.

Such chaos could not remain unnoticed for a long time. Soon, in many countries, he became persona non grata. They did not want to see him on the territory of Sicily, France, Germany. Traveling the world, Alex began to make many enemies for himself, among whom were the famous domestic occultists. For example, Gurdjieff, who considered him a simple upstart and crazy.

Order of the Eastern Templars

1907 was a decisive year in the life of Alex Crowley. He ventured to open his own order, which he called the "Silver Star". If you believe the Satanist himself, then in 1912 he was accused by Theodor Reuss of having revealed to the public all the secret orders of the Eastern Templars. It is worth noting that initially this order in the secret dreams of Crowley was supposed to help the whole society learn the truth in every person and know the will of God.

The man was sure that if a person goes through certain rituals of initiation, appreciates their significance, masters extraordinary occult techniques and receives sacred knowledge, then he will not only become a member of the Order of the Eastern Templars, but even be able to obtain the knowledge necessary for a dialogue with his sacred angel- the guardian, the highest part of one's nature, which is a connection with the entire universe and God.

As a result, a person had to answer the eternal questions "Who am I, what is my mission?"

Despite the accusations of Theodore, Crowley stated that he did not reveal any secrets in his Holy Book, since he himself had not yet reached the required degree of development.

So, unlike other psychics (Groening, Chumak, Kashpirovsky, Vanga), the magician Crowley won nothing but contempt and disgust.

Today, everyone who was in any way connected with esotericism is familiar with the name Tarot Tota. Sometimes this deck of cards is also called the Tarot of Aleister Crowley. It was created together with Frida Harris, who worked as an Egyptologist artist. It is worth noting that today this deck is very popular among tarologists, since each card has its own astrological correspondence, you can find many unique hidden symbols on it.

For those who want to work with this deck, be sure to have in the arsenal of the book of Thoth, in which Crowley explains the meaning of each card and each element depicted on it. Most often, these cards are used for fortune telling.

Throughout his life, the famous Satanist assured everyone that he was the reincarnation of Eliphas Levi. A similar opinion is also expressed in his book "Magic in theory and practice." The occultist explains it this way: between the death of Levi and the birth of Crowley, only six months, some are sure that in the case of reincarnation, it is this time that is necessary for the soul to pass from one body to another.

Eliphas himself was remarkably similar in appearance to Alex's father. Not yet familiar with the writings of Levy, Crowley wrote the play Fatal Force, which used a magic formula, which, as it turned out, was present in the works of Levy.

While in Paris, Alex bought an apartment that was familiar to him (as it seemed to him then), and only many years later did he find out that Eliphas had previously lived in the next apartment.

At the end of his life, Crowley had to travel a lot, wandering and hiding. He tried to find his followers and somehow make a living. Some biographers claim that during this time he was especially addicted to heroin. During this period, Edward meets Gerald Gardner, who later founded the Wicca movement.

Some historians believe that the books for the Wiccans were written by Crowley himself, However, this information has not been confirmed. On December 1, 1947, Aleister's life ended, and on December 5 he was cremated. As it should be according to the will at his funeral the "Hymn to Pan" composed by him was read out.

Quotes by Aleister Crowley

This is not to say that the work of a crazy Satanist is devoid of common sense. In each of his works, books, anyone can find something that will interest him and that will push him to different (and even sensible) thoughts. For example:

As long as a person has emotions in relation to some things, love or fear or something else, then he cannot look at them correctly. This is why a doctor will not treat his own family.
Aleister Crowley "Diary of a Drug Addict"

Today, few people have heard of Plato and Aristotle. It is unlikely that one person in a thousand - perhaps one in ten thousand - read them even in translations. But just as few are those whose thinking, as it is, is not conditioned by the ideas of these two people.
Aleister Crowley "The Book of Thoth"

The battle with your doubts is a very serious thing. You will still have time to wonder how cunning and perceptive your subconscious mind is, how well its "irrefutable" logic is cut, how great its power is - oh, it will be able to make you recognize day at night if you allow it.
Aleister Crowley "Moon Child"

Aleister Crowley's persona is highly controversial. On the one hand, he is a racist, misogynist, propagandizing very strange and terrible things. But on the other hand - a genius who managed to create many works that are used by occultists all over the world to this day.

In the popular understanding, an occultist is a person who goes out at midnight in a long black robe and for some reason always barefoot on the damp grass. Then he, together with other adepts, draws a pictogram and calls our master Satan. Having received clear instructions from his superiors, the adept with a calm soul goes to study the bestiary and indulge in sin with dissolute virgins.

The most amazing thing is that it is very difficult to imagine the always elegant and sophisticated Aleister Crowley in these raging ranks. Even though after many years and tons of books written by his hand, this simple British surname is still a symbol of world mysticism and occultism. Now all the knights of the purple outfit and strange things consider him their standard, almost God. Even some Satanists respect him much more than the showman.

To popularize the already well-known black magic and all kinds of hoaxes, he did much more than Voldemort and other fictional characters with all sorts of sticks, wands and toothpicks in their hands. But many did not decide who he was - a charlatan who successfully speculated on his eloquence, or really a person who saw and knew something. The commercial vein of the descendant of successful brewers was in the blood, but there was also a craving for the otherworldly.

Be that as it may, "a demon in the guise of a man", as he was called by especially quarrelsome inhabitants, or the Beast and Ankh-af-na-Khons, as the hero himself called himself, left a huge mark in the world of living people. And not only in culture.

Antichrist from an early age

Aleister Crowley was born into a very wealthy and, oddly enough, devout family, living in the small town of Stardford-upon-Avon. Also, Will had the good fortune to be born here - the son of a glover named Shakespeare, who later grew into one of the greatest playwrights and poets in history. Therefore, in the town you can meet two groups of fans who come to "bow" to the places of birth of idols.

Alexander's father (the name given to Crowley at birth) is the hereditary owner of the brewery, his mother is a devout, conservative Protestant with three convolutions and a completely non-progressive approach to life. Every day the guy had to study the Bible. However, after the death of his father, all attempts by his mother to strengthen Crowley in the Christian faith only provoked his skepticism. This is what happens when you try to forcefully tame a person to a cult.

Scandals reached the point that the mother called her own son "the beast 666" (a quote from the revelation of John the Theologian). The rebellious boy liked the nickname, and later in his adult life he often called himself that way. Then there was college, diligently squandering my father's fortune. But suddenly the guy was mowed down by an illness that pushed him to thoughts about the death and frailty of human existence. From that time on, the "beast 666" began to study everything occult.

Comings at the cost of a career

After leaving the university, he begins to travel a lot around the world, and the most fateful visit is to Stockholm, where, as he said, he was drawn like a magnet. Then the strangest thing that ever happened in his life happened - an insight descended on him.

The knowledge that I was involved in magical intentions awoke in me ... my nature, which until then was essentially hidden from me. It was an experience of horror and pain, combined with a certain amount of mental discomfort, and at the same time, it represented the key to the purest and most holy spiritual ecstasy possible.

Many attributed this to the delirium or fantasies of a rake. But he thought that he knew almost the very secret of the universe.

Upon his return, he joined the Golden Dawn Order, the organizers of which practiced medieval Kabbalism and Eastern demonology using traditional Masonic rituals. The order was full of interesting personalities, some of whom, like the notorious Arthur Conan Doyle and the poet William Yates, were looking for the truth. There is nothing surprising in the fact that the shores of occultism and mysticism, fertile for impressions and unique experience, attracted people, primarily creative ones.

But Crowley's entourage mercilessly despises them, displaying them in a not very pleasant light on the pages of his own junk masterpieces.

The Loch Ness Monster is also his handiwork

Tired of hanging out with peace-loving creative bastards, Crowley leaves for Loch Ness, buys Boleskin House, converts two rooms into the Black and White temples and together with a friend using spells summons the demon Buer, the lord of 50 hellish legions. Of course, there were no witnesses, and he told all his followers that the demon had come, but due to some interference, in the guise of a lizard. The one that looks like a swollen mother-diplodocus from the cartoon "Earth before the beginning of time." Simply put, the demon hasn't gone away and is still swimming in Loch Ness.

The whole essence of Thelema

Conducting another course of world tours, Crowley began to claim that in Cairo he was visited by an interesting person in the form of the ancient spirit of Aivaz. It was the person who dictated to him the Book of the Law, which later became the basis of the teaching.

According to Alistair's stories, they did not come to the essence of the teachings right away - they suddenly remembered that, according to Kabbalah, “thelema” (from the Greek “will”), “aivass” and “agape” (other Greek “love”) have the same the numerical value is 93. Thus, Crowley concluded:

“Love is the Law! Do as you please - this is the Law! Do according to your Will. "

As a result, the words "Do what you want - that's the whole law" became the main slogan of the movement.

Fascinated by the concept of the change of eras, Crowley in every possible way assured that the very ominous Age of Aquarius was coming, and that people needed to massively change their minds in order to become enlightened and invulnerable, like himself. In addition, there is a pleasant bonus - after the death of passengers, a rebirth awaits.

But if you look closely, the "hoaxer" did not come up with anything of his own. A lot was borrowed from Nietzsche, Rabelais, Kabbalah, the ancient mystical doctrine of the Left Hand Path (not at all connected with those vulgarities that you thought about) and the main world religions. He generally had the peculiarity of attributing other people's merits to his beloved. But people, in the face of the intelligentsia, who were overdosed with drugs worthy of the early Rolling Stones, through the mind still drugged with legal cocaine and the like, actively absorbed newfangled knowledge. So it’s reasonable to argue that Crowley was just gracefully taunting his main clients.

But since then, the world has been discussing the Thelemites, who roam the earth with their remnants. Who is Thelemite? Too cowardly to become a Satanist; too depraved to be a Christian; and too unique to stick with another mystical ZAO? Quite probably, you can't say for sure - they are encrypted, you bastards.

Tarot of the Beast

Anyone who was in any way connected with esotericism or tried to impress friends with the presence of Tarot cards, and many whom the aspiring fortuneteller tried to seduce with fortune telling in the style of "you and your girlfriend are not on the way, so the cards say", is familiar with the main creation of Crowley - Tarot Thoth. Sometimes this deck of cards is called the Tarot of Aleister Crowley.

It is very popular among tarologists, since each card has its own astrological correspondence, and many unique hidden symbols can be found on it. In order to make it convenient to work with the deck, Crowley even wrote a wonderful book in which, without his usual quirks, he explains the meaning of every card and every element depicted on it.

Small visit to Moscow

Shortly before the outbreak of the First World War, Crowley arrived in Moscow with the girls' choir "Regguide Ragtime Girls". Alas, he did not succeed in recruiting new supporters of the Thelemic doctrine in the city, and that is why in his poem "City of God" and the essay "The Heart of Holy Russia" there is a poorly hidden irritation.

Crowley called the Kremlin "the dream come true of a hashish smoker", admired the barbaric beauty of bell chimes, and responded about the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, we quote: "a bad church in the modern European spirit, where the height is so disproportionate to the width that anyone can imagine that he is in a cell torture of a sadistic god ... As a result, the building turns into a kind of magic mouth with golden teeth, which sucks the soul until it disappears. "

But he really liked the Cathedral of St. Basil the Blessed, which he proposed to call nothing other than the "Cathedral of Basilisk".

Crowley and Nazism

The Nazis and Hitler are said to have had a very strong interest in esotericism. Considering the fact that in Germany Crowley found admirers in the person of Theodor Reuss - the head of the German Order of the "Eastern Templars", who even ordained him to the sacrament of the order and gave him the name "Brother Baphomet", it was not at all difficult to reach him. Moreover, there are facts that at the dawn of their power, even before the war, they supported him.

It is believed that Hitler was a follower of Crowley's teachings. But the "Beast 666" himself repeatedly spoke of Hitler as "a magician who could not understand the true essence of the sacrament." In addition, it is well known that Crowley's friend and sponsor, Karl Germer, was arrested by the Nazi government on charges of “collaborating with the enemy of the Reich,” Freemason Aleister Crowley. This means that if earlier there was some kind of sympathy, then it turned out to be short-lived and fragile.

But it should be noted that during the First World War, Crowley carried out pro-German propaganda and, according to rumors, even tore his British passport at the foot of the Statue of Liberty. However, over time, he became persona non grata in Sicily and France, and not because of politics. For example, Mussolini personally drove him from Sicily. It was just that Crowley publicly announced that he would have sexual contact with a goat, and since it was useless to plant a friend of German friends, he was offered to leave the island.

The man had a talent - to spoil relations, even the Nazis could not stand it. And Reuss, who adored him, eventually took offense at him, when Crowley founded his own Order of the Silver Star. The German friend did not like that Crowley had revealed all the secrets of his order. Although initially the brainchild of Alistair was supposed to help the entire society learn the truth in every person and know the will of God.

An unbridled homosexual with perverted fantasies?

Our sorcerer was unbridled in his sexual desires, that's why he created Thelem. Sometimes even his followers were frightened by his concern. For example, when he began to actively hang out with English witches, who were often bored aristocrats, then after several mysteries the High Priestess chased him away for "sexual licentiousness and animal perversions."

Crowley did not disdain men either. Like Alexei Panin, who gratefully accepts all the alms of the gods of lust and fornication, he kneaded clay. But not for the sake of pleasure, but for the glory of Satan, of course! The fact is that some of the rituals required a homosexual act. Why are you wondering why the Loch Ness Monster is so fucked up? The guys just didn't try.

Crowley was also very fond of summoning Jupiter - also with the chords of sodomy. Even his many "insights" are attributed by many to the consequences of an overly vivid homosexual experience, which was also passive. In fact, bloody animal sacrifices and perverse sex orgies were the norm in his life. This shows the whole personality of Crowley as a simple madman, not a great genius. Among the sacrifices, one should separately note the following rite that he repeated many times: he called the toad Jesus Christ and crucified it.

Crowley claimed that from 1912 to 1921, he killed 150 children annually during his rituals. However, it was just, if I may say so, a publicity stunt that attracted drug-drugged aristocrats who did not know what to do with their money.

But women were led to the "Beast"

But at the same time, Crowley had his own family. Strange, but still a family, with wives and even two children. The first wife, who already had a tendency to mental illness, after communicating with her husband became completely "magic". It was she who went into a trance with Ayvaz. True, later, when his wife became very bad, he dismissed her as a consumable, and took the news of her death with surprising calmness. He soon married again.

This trait had an amazing, almost devilish charisma, with which he could make virgins from noble families crawl in sewage, bark, show their genitals to new supporters of the Thelemic doctrine, engage in public masturbation, and also participate in orgies at the next meeting.

There is a simple explanation for all of Aleister's strange behavior: Crowley constantly “improved” his “magical capabilities” with the help of various hallucinogens, primarily mescaline. And the whole bohemia was on drugs, and as they say, with whom you will behave ... They say that the hoaxer met his death in 1947 after injecting too much heroin.

The world's most preoccupied writer

But his main legacy is undoubtedly literature. At one time, Alistair imagined himself a poet and borrowed the style of writing from Swinburne, and the theme and characters from De Sade. His poetry is sexy, sometimes homosexual, it borders on pornography and rudeness, it reflects the protest and rebellion of the author. True, the rebellion is so frank that even the Marquis would vomit when reading it. Crowley was too ingenious in his descriptions.

His main book "The Book of the Law" is the main text of the teachings of Thelem. It is rather difficult for an uninitiated person to read and understand it, but it is interesting. Although there are plenty of books that Alistair wrote in a more legible and understandable way. For example, "Diary of a Drug Addict", in which Aleister Crowley appears as he is! Psychopath and philosopher, occultist and poet. A person who received enlightenment at an expensive, drug cost.

In Vision and Voice, he tries to describe spiritual experiences and investigations of more subtle planes in a completely normal and scientific language. The Goetia describes the ritual preparations, weapons, and spells required to invoke 72 spirits. And reading "Lectures on Yoga" can be a pleasant surprise. In this book, he does not talk about how glorious it is to drink vodka with Satan, but soberly describes each step as a technique of mental discipline.

Crowley's legacy

It will take even more words to say about Crowley's influence on culture in full, writing out dubious details, but not to mention them at all is a crime against humanity.

His philosophy, based on unbridled, permissive sexuality and connections with the otherworldly, turned out to be so close to rockers that they openly sang the praises of their mastermind. His "Doctrine 93" even gave the name to the group of the same name.

In addition, Alistair's face can be found on the cover of The Beatles' legendary and no less mystical album - Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. "

And that same song, with an ominous organ, as if borrowed from horror films? The legendary troublemaker wrote it, impressed by the life of our hero. Moreover, even such a madman as Osborne could not believe in the scale of the hellish genius, and therefore the first words in the song are as follows: "Mr. Crowley, what's in your head?"

But the guy's biggest fan, of course, was Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page. He was ready, without bargaining, to buy everything that Alistair had to do with in one way or another. The most expensive were the mansions in which Jimmy settled himself. True, the fascination with the occult, as they say, almost ruined the group and Page himself, who miraculously did not drown in the sea of ​​alcohol and drugs in the 70s and 80s.

It is said that having become proficient in various rituals with the help of Crowley's knowledge, Page even made a deal with the Devil so that the group would exist forever. And only a binge with the leader of "Metal Corrosion" made the lord of the underworld forget about Jimmy.

Rumor has it that it was from Crowley that he learned to lay hidden messages in songs that can be found by scrolling them backwards. Look, there is Beast 666 and Kabbalistic attributes, so maybe it's really: Satan is alive, Crowley didn't lie, and our whole life is a game?

Aleister Crowley is an English poet and writer, occultist and mystic. Founder of Thelem teachings and author of many occult works, including The Book of the Law. He is the creator of the Tarot Tota deck.

Childhood and youth

Aleister Crowley was born in Warwickshire, in the city of Leamington Spa. At birth, the boy was named Edward Alexander Crowley. His father, Edward Crowley, was an engineer by profession, but did not work a day by profession. He owned a stake in the family business, the Crowley Beer brewery. He received considerable profit from this business, so soon after his marriage he joined the Christian sect "Plymouth Brothers", and later became their preacher.

Alistair's mother, Emily Bishop, was a housewife and was also a member of the Plymouth Brothers sect. Of course, the boy spent his childhood reading religious literature and listening to sermons. Every day, after breakfast, his father read a Bible chapter to him and his mother.

When the boy was 11 years old, his father died of tongue cancer, leaving his son an inheritance. With age, Alistair began to notice inaccuracies and inconsistencies in the Bible, so he could not find a common language with his mother, who continued to be a member of the sect and forced the boy to study Christian treatises. They often quarreled, once Emily Bishop called her son a beast, meaning the messenger of Satan, later he signed some of his works "Beast 666".

Crowley studied at the Plymouth Brothers Private School in Cambridge. But he was expelled for bad behavior. After several years he studied at Tonbridge School, Malvern Boarding College and Eastbourne.

At first he was interested in economics and psychology, later he became interested in English literature. But in essence, he did not find himself in more than one area, Alistair was great at squandering the inheritance he had received and enjoying life. But already in 1896 Aleister Crowley began to study in detail the occult, mysticism and alchemy.

Also, the man was fond of mountaineering, chess and poetry. By the way, he began writing poetry at the age of 10. Every year he became more and more disillusioned with religion. He began to talk about this to his mentors, and the main manifestation of "disobedience" to Christianity was his sexual relations, and not only with his acquaintances girls, but also with women of easy virtue.

Literature and occult practices

In 1898, the man met Julian Baker. The man was a chemist, so they found a common language on the basis of alchemy. Baker led Crowley into the Golden Dawn, an occult organization dedicated to magic, alchemy, and theurgy. In the same year he was ordained to the degree of Neophyte of the Golden Dawn. At the same time, Crowley bought himself a luxurious apartment - he took one room for white magic, and the other for black. Alan Bennett, a fellow in the Order, lived with him and became his mentor in ceremonial magic.

It is noteworthy that in the ranks of the "Golden Dawn" there were people in whose person Crowley found enemies and rivals. Alistair did not hide his relationship to his fellow order - he openly criticized William Yates and Arthur Waite. Their personalities were also reflected in his works of those years; he described them in an extremely impartial and humiliating manner. But they also did not skimp on negative reviews of his books.

He soon became disillusioned with both his mentor and the order itself. Officially, Crowley left the Golden Dawn only in 1904. In 1900, he went to Mexico, where he continued to study magic on his own. Together with him goes his fellow mountaineer Oscar Eckenstein. He practices meditation and raja yoga, which he teaches Alistair.

He later visited Hawaii, San Francisco, Hong Kong, Japan and Ceylon. He wrote his main book while traveling to Egypt. According to Crowley himself, the "Book of the Law" was written down by him under the dictation of the holy spirit Aivas. In the book, he described the foundations of the religious teaching known in the world as Thelema. Translated from ancient Greek, it means "will". But some historians still believed that this teaching was directly borrowed from the ancient confession of the Left Hand Path. Of course, Crowley denied any accusations of plagiarism.

In 1907 Aleister Crowley creates his own order, which he gives the name "Silver Star".

In 1920, he moved to Sicily, where he organized Thelem Abbey, which is a commune where Crowley is the leader. He leads an extremely immoral life. His followers fulfill all his demands. They have orgies, they use drugs. The end of the abbey came after one of Crowley's followers passed away.

There was a fuss about this, the newspapers cited a variety of reasons for his death, for example, that he was poisoned with cat blood, which the mystic ordered the deceased to drink. After all, he often said to do what neither then nor now defies logic. For example, Crowley argued that whoever wants to become a great magician must get syphilis. He explained this by the fact that in this way they will receive "valuable experience." Ultimately, of course, the mystic and his commune were ordered to leave Sicily.

But this did not upset him in the least. He went on a journey again. Visited Tunisia, North Africa, France and Germany. During this period of time, he published several books: "Magic in theory and practice", "Equinox of the Gods", "Magic without tears", "Diary of a drug addict" and others. True, it was at this time that he gained a reputation as a Satanist, sectarian and black magician.

Fame came to Crowley after he created the tarot cards. The deck was named "Tarot Tota" and is still popular with esotericists. The maps are filled with symbolism, the artist-Egyptologist Frida Harris helped him to draw them. Alistair also published a book of the same name, in which the mystic gives an explanation of each card.

A follower of Crowley from Germany argued that the mystic's work had a lot to do with personality and life. True, historians were able to quickly dispel these speculations. But still, after the death of Aleister Crowley, this topic has long been extremely popular in the occult environment.

Despite the odious figure of Crowley, some of his books are not devoid of meaning and logic. Many of his works have been sorted into quotations.

Personal life

In 1903 Aleister Crowley married the sister of his friend Gerald Kelly, Rose Edith Kelly. Initially, the marriage was of convenience, but soon after the wedding, the man realized that he had fallen in love. The woman shared his love for the occult and mysticism and supported her husband in his endeavors.

Aleister Crowley and his first wife Rose Edith Kelly with their daughter Lola

In 1904, the couple had a daughter, they gave her an unusual name - Nuit Ma Ahator Hecate Sappho Jezabel Lilith Crowley. But the girl did not live to be three years old, she died. After some time, their second daughter, Lola Zaza Crowley, was born.

Once Gerald Kelly introduced Crowley to the writer, he later wrote the novel "The Magician", and the protagonist Oliver Haddo is the prototype of Aleister Crowley. Later, the feature film "Chemical Wedding" was shot, where Oliver Haddo also became a hero.

In 1929, in Germany, he met Maria Ferrari de Miramar. She was originally from Nicaragua. They were soon married.

Death

In the last years of his life, the popular mystic ran out of money in finances. He had to move from one hotel to another, trying to make a living. Some biographers believe that during this period he began to use heroin. As a result, Crowley died on December 1, 1947 from asthma. He was 72 years old.

Even after his death, he remained true to himself: the funeral ceremony was dark and strange, during which the poem "Hymn to Pan" was recited. Crowley requested this in his will.

Bibliography

• 1904 - Book of the Law
• 1944 - Book of Thoth
• 1945 - Magic without tears
• 1961 - The Book of Aleph: The Book of Wisdom or Madness
• 1969 - Tarot Tota
• 1904 - Depraved romance
• 1912 - Through the abyss
• 1913 - Testament of Magdalene Blair
• 1917 - Cocaine
• 1922 - Diary of a drug addict
• 1929 - Moon Child
• 1929 - Unworthy and Other Stories
• 1970 - The Lost Continent

The characters of many modern TV series become public domain, the demeanor or catchphrases of which are often used in everyday life.

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

Crowley's early years

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

There are suggestions that she suffered as a result of the orgy in honor of the winter solstice. But the more familiar version remains the one where his father is a wealthy Scotsman who has 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 witchcraft for the sake of the baby. Therefore, Crowley recalled how his own mother almost made a deal, bargaining for him three pigs.

The relationship between 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 among her tricks, probably out of selfish intentions.

At the age of eight, the 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 has mastered tailor's profession and began to work 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 drunken father.

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

Contact with otherworldly forces

Fergus's dissolute life at some point led him to an acquaintance with the devil, to whom he, without hesitation, sold his soul. At the price of steel three inches to his manhood since he always wanted a two-digit number. 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, predictably, and took office crossroads demon.

Hard work allowed him to get a "promotion", after which he became Lilith's assistant, and eventually took over as her right hand.

Before the brothers sent Lucifer into captivity, his peak in Hell was the position of King of the Crossroads. Having got rid of the most prominent person in the underworld, it was Crowley who managed to obtain the title of King of the Underworld.

Crowley's appearance and character

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

This feature is an important difference in Crowley's image, as all other fiends have a dark smoky shape.

Considering the personality of this demon, one cannot fail to notice his wit, and also superhuman cunning... There is practically no scam that he could not pull off. This demon probably remains one of the best manipulators, knowing how to influence the animal instincts of a person. The interlocutors recognize in Crowley a skillful psychologist who will always find the right price for any transaction.

Among the repulsive features, it is worth noting the irrepressible conceit that 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 underestimates them, which distinguishes him from other demons.

From the side of Crowley, it can seem quite welcoming and gentle, especially in contrast to 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 mocking his own victims in every possible way. The main thing for the demon is the preservation of his own life, regardless of the accompanying circumstances. This is what allowed him as a result to occupy the highest position in Hell.