The man who revelled in being called
“Great Beast 666″ and dubbed by the press as the “Wickedest Man in
History” was more than a theatrical occultist: Aleister Crowley is at
the heart of one of the most influential movements of the 20th and 21st
centuries. He also had ties with some of the world’s most powerful
figures, even working with the British Intelligence Agency MI-5. This
article describes the life and works of occultist Aleister Crowley and
looks at his ties with the world elite which facilitated the propagation
of the Thelema.
Although he is considered to be the most
influential occultist of the 20th century and was recognized by the BBC
as the 73rd “greatest Briton of all time”, most people have never heard
of Aleister Crowley. The English occultist, mystic and ceremonial
magician is incredibly popular in some circles (occultists, artists,
celebrities, etc.) but completely unknown to the average person. And why
should he be known? What did he accomplish? Simply put, he foreshadowed
the radical philosophical change that would sweep the Western
civilization during the 20th century. By founding the philosophy of Thelema and announcing the coming of a New Aeon,
Crowley did not only formulate the major philosophical precepts of the
21st century, he was part of the Illuminist motor that promoted it.
Because of Crowley’s sexual rituals,
drug consumption and dabblings in Black Magick (he introduced the letter
“k” at the end of “magic” to differentiate it from the entertainment
kind) , Crowley was maligned and heavily criticized by the press during
his lifetime. However, declassified documents have since revealed that
the “Great Beast 666″ led a double life: Crowley apparently maintained
ties with the British Government and worked with the British
intelligence and high-ranking members of the American Government. The
O.T.O.–the secret society he popularized–held within its ranks some of
the most influential people of the time, who in turn used their power to
further the advancement of its main philosophy: the Thelema.
His Youth
Young Crowley
Crowley was born to a wealthy and
religious family. His parents were part of the Exclusive Brethren, a
conservative faction of the Christian denomination called the Plymouth
Brethren. His father, a travelling preacher for his sect, was
particularly devout and was said to read a chapter from the verse to his
wife and son every day after breakfast .
While Crowley maintained a good relationship with his father, he
despised his mother, who described him as “the beast” – a name he later
adopted as his life-long moniker.
After losing his father to lung cancer
at age 11, Crowley inherited the family fortune and went on studying
English literature at Trinity College in Cambridge. It is during those
academic years that Crowley began renouncing and even rebelling against
his Christian background. He seriously questioned the Bible, partook in
sexual activities with local girls and prostitutes and developed an
acute interest in occultism. Another symbolic step towards his
self-affirmation was his name change from Edward Alexander to Aleister.
Here’s an excerpt from his autobiography describing the reasons behind
his name change:
“For many years I had loathed being called
Alick, partly because of the unpleasant sound and sight of the word,
partly because it was the name by which my mother called me. Edward did
not seem to suit me and the diminutives Ted or Ned were even less
appropriate. Alexander was too long and Sandy suggested tow hair and
freckles. I had read in some book or other that the most favourable
name for becoming famous was one consisting of a dactyl followed by a
spondee, as at the end of a hexameter: like Jeremy Taylor. Aleister
Crowley fulfilled these conditions and Aleister is the Gaelic form of
Alexander. To adopt it would satisfy my romantic ideals. The atrocious
spelling A-L-E-I-S-T-E-R was suggested as the correct form by Cousin
Gregor, who ought to have known better. In any case, A-L-A-I-S-D-A-I-R
makes a very bad dactyl. For these reasons I saddled myself with my
present nom-de-guerre—I can’t say that I feel sure that I facilitated
the process of becoming famous. I should doubtless have done so,
whatever name I had chosen.”
Perhaps Crowley’s most significant
experiences of his youth were his homosexual relations which, according
to his later biographer Lawrence Sutin, led him to an “encounter with an
immanent deity”. This triggered in him a great interest in occultism,
secret societies and, more specifically, what he will later call Sex
Magick.
Secret Societies
Crowley in magician regalia
In his late twenties, Crowley joined
many esoteric groups where he was either admired and rose high in the
ranks or despised and expelled. Inspired by Arthur E. Waite’s book, The Book of Black Magic and of Pacts,
Crowley joined the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn–known as the
“Great White Brotherhood” –in 1898. This secret society held within its
membership elite and highly influential members of society. There he was
introduced to ceremonial magic and the ritualistic usage of drugs.
In 1899, he reportedly became a member
of the Old George Pickingil witch coven. However, he was not welcomed
for long as a result of his irresponsible attitude and his inclinations
toward homosexuality (which was shocking at that time, even to witches).
The priestess of his coven later described him as “a dirty minded,
evilly-disposed and vicious little monster!” .
Crowley also became a high-ranking
Freemason, joining several lodges and acquiring several Masonic degrees.
In his autobiography, Crowley described his attainment of the 33rd (and
last) degree of the Scottish Rite in Mexico:
“Don Jesus Medina, a descendant of the
great duke of Armada fame, and one of the highest chiefs of Scottish
Rite free-masonry. My cabbalistic knowledge being already profound by
current standards, he thought me worthy of the highest initiation in
his power to confer; special powers were obtained in view of my limited
sojourn, and I was pushed rapidly through and admitted to the
thirty-third and last degree before I left the country.”
With the help of prominent author and
Freemason John Yarker, Crowley obtained other Masonic degrees including
the 3° In France by the Anglo-Saxon Lodge No. 343, 33° of the irregular
‘Cerneau’ Scottish Rite and 90°/95° of the Rite of Memphis/Misraim .
According to the United Grand Lodge of England however, whose
recognition is generally considered the standard for Masonic validity,
none of these Masonic bodies were considered regular and he was never
considered an official Freemason.
“The Book of the Law”, the Thelema and the Aeon of Horus
In 1904, Crowley and his new wife Rose
visited Egypt for their honeymoon. It is during this trip that he wrote
his most famous book Liber Legis, The Book of the Law, which would become the cornerstone of his life.
According to his own account, Crowley’s
wife led him into a museum in Cairo where she showed him a seventh
century BCE mortuary stele known as the Stele of Ankh-ef-en-Khonsu
(which will be later revered as the Stele of Revealing). Crowley was
astounded by the exhibit’s number: 666, the number of the Beast in the
Book of Revelation.
The Stele of Revealing, exhibit number 666.
Later during their stay in Egypt,
Crowley and Rose took part in a magical ritual during which he alleges
to have received a message from an entity named Aiwass. As a result of
this communication, Crowley wrote the first three chapters of the Book of the Law – a mystical text which, he believed, would revolutionize the future of mankind.
“It announced the advent of a new eon in
which Crowley has become the priest-prince of a new religion, the Age of
Horus. He was to formulate a link between humanity and the
“solar-spiritual force, during which the god Horus would preside for the
next two thousand years over the evolution of consciousness on this
planet. (…)
The message from Aiwaz, whom Crowley
understood to be his own guardian angel, convinced him that his mission
in life was to give the coup de grace to the Age of Osiris with its
moribund appendage, the Christian faith, and build on the ruins a new
religion based on the law of the Thelema – Greek for ‘will’.”
Cover of the Book of the Law
“Had! The manifestation of Nuit.
The unveiling of the company of heaven.
Every man and woman is a star.
Every number is infinite; there is no difference.
Help me, o warrior lord of Thebes, in my unveiling before the Children of men!”
- The opening lines of the Book of the Law
“By his adepts, the Book of the Law was
described as containing occult formulae of cosmic scope, “some openly
expressed, some veiled in the most complex web of qabalistic ciphers
ever woven into a single text.” Nor was it just a piece of “automatic
writing,” said Crowley, but a clear cut message from an intelligence of
superhuman power and knowledge, some extraterrestrial transcendental
source, “one of the real hidden masters who would thereafter manifest
to him.”
Crowley’s depiction of Aiwass
According to Crowley’s protégé Kenneth
Grant, anyone possessing the capacity for understanding the language of
symbolism “will be staggered with the accuracy of the summary of the
spirit of the eon” .
In other words, the same way the Bible ruled over Western Civilization
during the past two millenniums, the Thelema would describe the spirit
of the next two thousand years.
“In the Aeon of Horus the dualistic
approach to religion will be transcended through the abolition of the
present notion of a God external to oneself. The two will be united.
“Man will no longer worship God as an external factor, as in Paganism,
or as an internal state of consciousness, as in Christianity, but will
realize his identity with God.” The new Aeon of Horus, based on the
union of the male and female polarities, will involve the magical use of
semen and ecstasy, culminating in an apotheosis of matter – “in the
realization of the old Gnostic notion that matter is not dual but one
with the Spirit” — symbolized by the androgynous Baphomet of the
Templars and the Illuminati.”
The Book of the Law became the basis of Thelema, which revolved around three key philosophical ideas:
1- Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law;
2- Love is the law, Love under will;
3- Every man and every woman is a star.
The unicursal hexagram, main symbol of the Thelema
It is widely believed that the saying
“Do What Thou Wilt” means “do what you want”, therefore describing an
egoistic quest for instant gratification and pleasure. However,
initiates of the philosophy disagree with this description of the axiom
as they believe it is meant to be interpreted on a metaphysical level.
Thelema is Greek for “The Will”. The main aim of this philosophy is the
realization of one’s True Will, which is described as one’s “higher
calling” or purpose in life, regardless of ethical or moral barriers.
“There are no “standards of Right”. Ethics is balderdash. Each Star
must go on its own orbit. To hell with “moral principle”; there is no
such thing.”
Crowley incorporated these teachings into his newly-founded A.’. A.’. (Argenteum Astrum
or the Silver Star), a magical order meant to be a successor of the
defunct Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. To generate interest in his
order, Crowley also published The Equinox – A Journal of Scientific Illuminism (a term borrowed from Adam Weishaupt’s Order of the Illuminati) where he divulged esoteric rituals and techniques. His later work entitled Book of Lies
captured the attention of the head of the Ordo Templi Orienti (O.T.O)
Theodor Reuss, who soon made him an initiate and Grand Master of the
O.T.O. The reason given for such a recognition: his knowledge of sexual
magic.
The O.T.O. and Sex Magick
Crowley, known as the “Great Baphomet” of the O.T.O.
The O.T.O’s magical and initiatory
system has among its innermost reaches a set of teachings on sex magick .
One might even observe that the acronym of this order is rather
phallic. Sex magick is the use of the sex act, or the energies, passions
or arousals it evokes, as a point of which to focus the will or magical
desire in the non-sexual world. It has been equated with the “life
force” and the “kundalini”. Through the ritualistic use of sexual
techniques, inspired by Tantric schools of the East, the initiate can
use the immense potency of sexual energy to reach higher realms of
spirituality.
“The order had rediscovered the great
secret of the Knights Templar, the magic of sex, not only the key to
ancient Egyptian and hermetic tradition, but to all the secrets of
nature, all the symbolism of Freemasonry, and all systems of Religion. “
To set in motion the “occult forces
which would result in the illumination of all by 2000 A.D.,” Crowley
became convinced that his mission was to “cure the world from sexual
repression”. To achieve his goal, he determined to study every detail of
sexual behavior and bring every sexual impulse up to the region of
rational consciousness. To this end he experimented with altered states
of consciousness, including hashish, cocaine and opium.
Crowley would eventually introduce (not
without protest) the practice of homosexual sex magick into the O.T.O.
as one of the highest degrees of the Order for he believed it to be the
most powerful formula .
It was clear that Crowley felt the accusations against the original
Templars of practising sodomy and orgies with women had been based in
fact, but not understood by their detractors.
Crowley also kept with him a series of
“Scarlet Women”: the best known of these was Leah Hirsig, the so-called
“Ape of Thoth”. Together they would indulge in drinking sessions, drugs
and sexual magic. It is believed that Crowley made multiple attempts
with several of these women to begat a “Magickal child” (see Roman
Polanski’s Rosemary’s Baby), none of which reportedly worked. He instead fictionalized his attempts in a book called “Moonchild”, published in 1929.
Cover of Moonchild by Aleister Crowley
In the Thelema, the Scarlet woman is
equated with Babalon – The Great Mother, the Mother of Abominations of
the book of Revelation. Crowley and his protégés would often dabble and
experiment with this concept.
Secret Agent 666
As Crowley’s antics were picked up by the press, he soon became
infamous as a black magician, a satanist and drug addict and would be
dubbed “The Wickedest Man in the World”. However, unclassified documents
revealed that this did not stop the British intelligence from hiring
him as an agent. (It was not the first time that the British Crown hired
the services of renown occultists; a famous example of such association
can be found in the link between John Dee and Queen Elizabeth I.)
The most significant work on the subject of Crowley’s spy career is Richard B. Spence’s Agent 666. Using documents gleaned from British, American, French and Italian archives, Secret Agent 666
sensationally reveals that Crowley played a major role in the sinking
of the Lusitania, a plot to overthrow the government of Spain, the
thwarting of Irish and Indian nationalist conspiracies, and the 1941
flight of Rudolf Hess.
Cover of Spence’s Secret Agent 666
During his research Spence uncovered a
document from the U.S. Army’s old Military Intelligence Division
supporting Crowley’s own claim to having been a spy:
“Aleister Crowley was an employee of the
British Government … in this country on official business of which the
British Consul, New York City has full cognizance”
According to Spence:
“Crowley was an adept amateur psychologist, had an
uncanny ability to influence people and probably utilized hypnotic
suggestion in his undercover work. The other thing he made good
use of was drugs. In New York, he carried out very detailed studies
on the effects of mescaline (peyote). He would invite various friends
over for dinner, fix them curry and dose the food with mescaline.
Then he observed and took notes on their behavior. Mescaline was
later used by intelligence agencies for experiments in behavior
modification and mind control.“
During World War II, Crowley became editor of a pro-German magazine
called The Fatherland, in which he published incendiary, anti-British
articles. He later claimed that these writings were so absurd and
outlandish that they ultimately helped the cause of the British. Crowley
also proposed many ideas to help the allies, most of which were
rejected. One of them, while initially dismissed, was later implemented.
This involved dropping occult pamphlets on the German countryside that
predicted dire outcome for the war and depicted Nazi leadership as
Satanic. His expertise in communications, propaganda and the management
of public opinion would be used to make his Thelema a major force in
today’s popular culture.
Important Protégés
As head of the O.T.O in California, Crowley tutored many individuals
who had a great impact on American Society. One of them is Jack Parsons.
Jack Parsons
Jack Parsons, was an American rocket
propulsion researcher at the California Institute of Technology. He was
one of the principal founders of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the
Aerojet Corp. His rocket research was some of the earliest in the United
States, and his pioneering work in the development of solid fuel and
the invention of JATO units for aircraft was of great importance to the
start of humanity’s space age. The noted engineer Theodore von Kármán,
Parsons’s friend and benefactor, declared that the work of Parsons and
his peers helped usher in the age of space travel. In fact, the Parsons
crater on the dark side of the moon is named after him.
“He (Jack Parsons) has been described as
‘the one single individual who contributed the most to rocket science’
and as an individual ‘who traveled under sealed orders from the US
Government’ “
Behind closed doors, Parsons was deeply
steeped in occultism and became a prominent member of the O.T.O., where
he partook in rather extreme sex magick rituals:
“Among Parsons’ many sex partners was that
of his own mother (their incestuous encounters were filmed). Both mother
and son engaged in bestiality and both appear to have been among that
species of psychotic who can function normally in public and achieve
positions of authority over others. “
In 1942, Parsons was appointed as head of
the Agapé O.T.O. Lodge by Aleister Crowley. Like Crowley, Parsons was
obsessed with the idea of creating a “magickal child” with Babalon or
the Scarlet Woman.
“The purpose of Parson’s operation has been
underemphasized. He sought to produce a magickal child who would be a
product of her environment rather than of her heredity. Crowley himself
describes the Moonchild in just these terms. The Babalon Working
itself was preparation for what was to come: a Thelemic messiah. “
Parsons with fellow members of Agape Lodge.
There was no clear separation between Parson’s professional and occult lives. In fact, he was known to recite Crowley’s poem Hymn to Pan before each rocket test.
Pan
Thrill with the lissome lust of the light,
O man! My man!
Come careering out of the night
Of Pan! Io Pan!
Io Pan! Io Pan! Come over the sea
From Sicily and from Arcady!
Roaming as Bacchus, with fauns and pards
And nymphs and satyrs for thy guards,
On a milk-white ass, come over the sea
To me, to me,
Come with Apollo in bridal dress
(Shepherdess and pythoness)
Come with Artemis, silken shod,
And wash thy white thigh, beautifal God,
In the moon of the woods, on the marble mount,
The dimpled dawn of the amber fount!
Dip the purple of passionate prayer
In the crimson shrine, the scarlet snare,
The soul that startles in eyes of blue
To watch thy wantonness weeping through
The tangled grove, the gnarled bole
Of the living tree that is spirit and soul
And body and brain – come over the sea,
(Io Pan! Io Pan!)
Devil or God, to me, to me,
My man! My man!
Come with trumpets sounding shrill
Over the hill!
Come with drums low muttering
From the spring!
Come with flute and come with pipe!
Am I not ripe?
I, who wait and writhe and wrestle
With air that hath no boughs to nestle
My body, weary of empty clasp,
Strong as a lion and sharp as an asp -
Come, O come!
I am numb
With the lonely lust of devildom.
Thrust the sword through the galling fetter,
All-devourer, all begetter;
Give me the sign of the Open Eye,
And the token erect of thorny thigh,
And the word of madness and mystery,
O Pan! Io Pan!
Io Pan! Io Pan Pan! Pan Pan! Pan,
I am a man:
Do as thou wilt, as a great god can,
O Pan! Io Pan!
Io Pan! Io Pan Pan! I am awake
In the grip of the snake.
The eagle slashes with beak and claw;
The Gods withdraw;
The great beasts come, Io Pan! I am borne
To death on the horn
Of the Unicorn.
I am Pan! Io Pan! Io Pan Pan! Pan!
I am thy mate, I am thy man,
Goat of thy flock, I am gold, I am god,
Flesh to thy bone, flower to thy rod.
With hoofs of steel I race on the rocks
Through solstice stubborn to equinox.
I rave; and I rape and I rip and I rend
Everlasting, world without end,
Mannikin, maiden, maenad, man,
In the might of Pan.
Io Pan! Io Pan Pan! Pan! Io Pan!
- Aleister Crowley’s “Hymn to Pan”
Parson later associated with an individual
who would become hugely influential: L. Ron Hubbard, the man who would
establish the Church of Scientology.
L. Ron Hubbard
Parsons took a great liking to Hubbard, who was then a U.S. Navy Captain, and initiated him to the secrets of the O.T.O.
“In a 1946 communiqué to Crowley, Parsons
wrote: ‘About three months ago I met (US Navy) Capt. L. Ron.
Hubbard…Although Ron has no formal training in Magick, he has an
extraordinary amount of experience and understanding in the field…He is
the most thelemic person I have ever met and is in complete accord with
our principles. He is also interested in establishing the New Aeon…We
are pooling our resources in a partnership that will act as a limited
company to control our business ventures. “
Portion of a 1969 article on the link between Hubbard and Crowley.
Hubbard’s Church of Scientology is today an
extremely influential and well-funded sect that boasts within its ranks
more than 8 million members, including high-profile celebrities like
Tom Cruise, Will Smith, John Travolta and Lisa Marie Presley.
Popular Culture
Although Crowley died nearly penniless, fighting a heroin addiction,
his legacy is nevertheless nothing less than colossal. Crowley’s impact
on today’s popular culture is noticeable on many levels, whether it is
through direct references to his persona or through Thelema-inspired
works.
The most obvious examples of Crowley’s influence on popular culture
are the references made by the rock stars who were enamored with his
persona and philosophy such as the Beatles and Jimmy Page.
Crowley on the Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album cover
Jay-Z wearing a shirt with Crowley’s most famous saying: “Do What Thou Wilt”
Crowley also inspired numerous movie characters including Le Chiffre – James Bond’s arch-villain in Ian Fleming’s Casino Royale and Satanist witch Adrian Marcato in Rosemary’s Baby. Today, references to Crowley and his Thelema can be found in odd places such as the anime Yu-Gi-Oh!
where one of the characters of the series is named Alister in honor of
him. This character bears on his forehead “The Seal of Orichalcos”,
which is a carbon-copy of Crowley’s unicursal hexagram.
Alister bearing the unicursal hexagram on his forehead.
Beyond these direct references, an astute
analyst can detect the influence of Crowley’s Thelemic philosophy and
his vision of a New Aeon in countless mass media products. In fact,
prominent members of the O.T.O. were (and still are) heavily involved in
the production of Hollywood movies, embedding within their plots
Thelemic tenets. Science fiction is a favored genre to expose viewers to
predictive programming.
“OTO initiates authored mass market
stories, especially science fiction, with subliminal, occult themes
published in popular books and magazines. Among the most influencial of
these were Robert Heinlein’s Stranger in a Strange Land, A.H. White’s
Rocket to the Morgue and the aforementioned Arthur C. Clarke’s “The
Sentinel” and Childhood’s End. (…)
By means of the newly burgeoning genre of
science fiction, the OTO was able to shape the vision of America through
predictive programming, which forecasts an “inevitable future,” thereby
influencing everything from the architecture of our cities to the
design of our automobiles and conception of what constitutes “progress
and liberation” in the future. (…)
The OTO’s ability to transform America
consisted in the linkage of this brazen lying with science and science
fiction, molding media and medicine in their image and likeness and
creating a new “Thelemic” religion for the masses. “
In Conclusion
Today, Crowley is regarded as either a
misunderstood mystical genius or a depraved charlatan, a prophet for an
era of spiritual enlightenment or a Satanic harbinger of the
Anti-Christ, an agent for the sexual liberation of mankind or
drug-addicted pederast. Were his spiritual visions true or did he con
thousands of followers? Answering this question today is practically
irrelevant. As a youth, Crowley wished to become a celebrity and to
change the course of history and, in his own way, he accomplished both
objectives. Not only did his peculiar character make him something of a
cult icon, his philosophic and esoteric works are today a major force
influencing mainstream culture, values and spirituality.
Unlike most historical figures who lose
their relevancy as the years go by, Crowley’s influence is steadily
increasing in the 21st century. This is not only a result of luck or
natural evolution, however. Crowley and his O.T.O. maintained ties with
high-level members of the British and American governments, as well as
with influential figures in science, law and culture. The world’s elite,
predominated by Illuminist values, are in perfect accord with Crowley’s
Thelema. These connections facilitated the dissemination and acceptance
of his works in popular culture. Crowley did not only predict society’s
abandonment of traditional religions and the embrace the Aeon of
Horus, he was part of the motor that made these changes happen. His
vision of a New Aeon also coincides with the Illuminati’s age-old plan
for a secular world order ruled by an “enlightened” elite. The wording
might be different, but the hermetic philosophical background is the
same. Let’s say that Crowley and the Establishment see “eye to eye” on
the subject … and this eye is the Eye of Horus.
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