Italian version

Edward Alexander Crowley was born in Leamington Spa, Warwickshire (United Kingdom) on 12 October 1875 and died in Hastings on 1 December 1947. He was an English occultist, poet, painter, novelist and mountaineer.

His family was wealthy, and both of his parents were of the fundamentalist Christian faith, belonging to the Plymouth Brethren 1. Following the death of his younger sister at the age of eight, the family relocated, and Crowley began attending private elementary and middle schools in Cambridge.

At the age of 11, after the death of his father, to whom he was deeply attached, Crowley inherited one-third of his father’s fortune. Following this loss, his academic performance declined, and he grew increasingly sceptical of Christianity and its moral teachings. By the time he reached adulthood, he had developed a wide range of interests, including chess, poetry, mountaineering, and visiting prostitutes.

In 1895, Crowley enrolled at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he focused on Humanities and English Literature. During this time, he continued his mountaineering adventures, climbing several peaks in the Swiss Alps. By 1897, some biographers note that he became aware of his bisexual tendencies. That same year, with an eye towards a potential diplomatic career in Russia, he stayed in St. Petersburg to learn the language.

In 1898, he abandoned his studies at Cambridge. Following a brief illness that prompted him to reflect on the pointlessness of existence, he turned to the occult sciences. That same year, he met Julian L. Baker in Zermatt, Switzerland. Baker was a chemist with an interest in alchemy, who later introduced him to the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn in London 2. Crowley began his journey into ceremonial magic and the ritual use of drugs, advancing through the lower grades of the Golden Dawn. However, due to his libertine attitudes and openly declared bisexuality, he was denied entry into the Inner Circle. The group’s leader, MacGregor Mathers, eventually admitted him to the Grade of Adeptus Minor, but this decision ultimately led to a split within the Order.

In 1900, he set off for Mexico. While in Mexico City, he continued his practice of ceremonial magic and Enochian evocations 3, He also wrote several poetic compositions and climbed numerous peaks throughout the country, each above 5,000 meters. Over the next two years, he travelled to San Francisco, Hawaii, Japan, Hong Kong, and Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). In India, he dedicated himself to practising Raja Yoga 4 and visiting monasteries. When a group of mountaineers approached him, he attempted to climb K2 with them. However, due to various ailments affecting the group, they abandoned the summit bid after reaching 6,200 meters.

Towards the end of 1902, Crowley was in Paris, immersing himself in the city’s artistic scene and continuing to write poetry. In 1903, upon returning to his Scottish home in Moleskine, he married Rose Edith Kelly, the daughter of the English portrait painter Sir Gerald Kelly. Rose’s family opposed this marriage.

In 1904, Crowley and Rose arrived in Cairo. While there, Crowley invoked ancient Egyptian gods and studied Arabic and Islamic mysticism. Following a series of visions his wife experienced, he believed he was destined to meet the god Horus 5. Shortly thereafter, Crowley heard a disembodied voice named Aiwass, who identified himself as a messenger of Horus. Over the next three days, Aiwass dictated The Book of the Law to Crowley, proclaiming that humanity was entering a new aeon and that Crowley would serve as its prophet. This book would become the cornerstone of the religion he founded, known as Thelema (derived from the Greek word θέλημα, meaning “will”).

In 1905, the couple’s first daughter, Lilith, was born. In 1906, Crowley decided to climb Kanchenjunga, the third-highest mountain in the world. Still, the expedition failed due to disagreements between Crowley and the participants and the death of two climbers. He travelled to southern China, Hanoi and Shanghai with his family, always practising his daily rituals and smoking opium. After the family’s return to Europe, he continued on to Japan, Canada and the United States. Upon his return, he learnt that his daughter had died of typhoid fever. In 1907, Rose gave birth to another daughter, Lola Zaza.

After having some experience with Abramelin rituals 6 and hashish, during which he claimed to have achieved samadhi, Crowley stated that he was contacted again by Aiwass, who dictated two additional texts to him. In November 1907, Crowley founded the A∴A∴ 7, an occult order based on the teachings of the Golden Dawn, revised in accordance with the principles of Thelema. In 1909, he began publishing The Equinox, the order’s official biannual magazine. That same year, he divorced his wife due to her persistent alcoholism, which eventually led to her hospitalisation.

Between 1909 and 1911, Crowley travelled to Algeria with his disciple and sexual partner, the English poet and writer Victor Neuburg, where they practised the rituals of Enochian magic. During this time, Crowley’s fame increased in his homeland due to public performances of the Rites of Artemis and Eleusis.

In 1912, Aleister Crowley met Theodor Reuss, the head of the German occult order Ordo Templi Orientis (OTO). Together, they decided to reform the order by incorporating Thelemic elements. Crowley was fascinated by the OTO’s emphasis on sex magic and chose to include rituals that involved anal sex. In 1913, he became a producer for a group of violinists scheduled to perform in Moscow; some believe this was a cover for spying on revolutionary elements at the behest of British intelligence.

In 1914, Aleister Crowley was living in New York City. To support himself, he wrote for the American edition of Vanity Fair and freelanced for a well-known American astrologer named Evangeline Adams. In 1915, Crowley was hired by a German spy to write for pro-German propaganda activities. However, he was also expected to act as a double agent for British intelligence, gathering information on the situation in Germany. During this time, he continued to promote his own philosophy of Thelema.

After returning to London in 1920, he left for Paris immediately. Consulting the I Ching, he decided to establish an abbey of Thelema in Cefalù, Sicily, which soon attracted numerous followers. The days were filled with evocative rituals and practices of sexual magic. However, Crowley became addicted to heroin and cocaine, initially prescribed by his doctor for asthma issues. In 1923, following a smear campaign by the English press, the Mussolini government expelled him from Italy, leading to the abandonment of the abbey.

Between 1923 and 1929, Aleister Crowley, whose health was deteriorating, moved between Tunis and France in an effort to overcome his addiction. During this time, he continued his practices of sexual magic with a variety of partners, both men and women. In 1928, he authored his most significant work, “Magick,” deliberately using the older spelling of the word to differentiate genuine magic from illusionistic magic.

In 1929, he was expelled from France due to his poor reputation. That same year, he married Nicaraguan Maria Teresa Sanchez in London. In 1930, he moved to Berlin and then to Lisbon to meet the poet Fernando Pessoa 8. While in Lisbon, he staged his own death, only to reappear in Berlin a few weeks later to attend one of his exhibitions. In 1935, he returned to London for another operation on his nasal cavities. During that same year, a London court declared him bankrupt due to ongoing insolvency.

In 1937, a female friend proposed having a son with him, whom he would nickname Aleister Atatürk; this son later died in 2002. He authored a moderately successful book titled “The Equinox of the Gods” and gave lectures, offering private yoga and magic lessons. During this time, he believed that Hitler could be a good candidate for Thelema. However, he changed his mind when the dictator abolished the German section of the OTO.

On the eve of the Second World War, his asthma worsened. Unable to rely on the availability of German medicines, he resumed using heroin. In 1944, he released the Tarot deck he designed, along with the publication of “The Book of Thoth”. During this time, he met Gerald Gardner, who would later become the founder of Wicca 9. He entrusted Gardner with the task of reviving the British section of the OTO.

On December 1, 1947, at the age of 72, Crowley passed away due to aggravated myocardial degeneration, pleurisy, and chronic bronchitis. Only a dozen people attended his funeral, during which passages were read from the Gnostic Mass, the Book of the Law, and the Hymn to Pan. His body was cremated, and the ashes were buried in New Jersey, USA, in the garden of Karl Germer’s home. Germer was Crowley’s successor at the head of the OTO.

Bibliography of Aleister Crowley (in English)

  • 777 – And Other Qabalistic Writings, including Gematria & Sepher Sephiroth
  • Absinthe – The Green Goddess
  • A Description of the Cards of the Tarot
  • Ahab -And other Poems
  • Aha! – The Sevenfold Mystery of the Ineffable Love
  • Aceldama, a place to bury strangers in
  • Alice, an Adultery
  • A Note on Genesis and Liber LXV
  • Book Four
  • Clouds Without Water
  • Cocaine
  • Commentaries on the Holy Books – And Other Papers
  • De Arte Magica
  • Diary of a Drug Fiend
  • Eight Lectures on Yoga
  • Ercildoune
  • Essays on Intoxication
  • Gargoyles – Being strangely wrought images of life and death
  • Gematria
  • Golden Twigs
  • Household Gods
  • Illustrated Goetia (with David P. Wilson, Lon Milo DuQuette, Christopher S. Hyatt)
  • Jephthah
  • Jezebel – And other Tragic Poems
  • Konx Om Pax
  • Liber VII (Liber vel Lapidis Lazuli) and Liber IX (Liber vel Excercitiorum) – Two Short Works
  • Liber XV – Ecclesiae Gnosticae Catholicae Canon Missae (with Thomas Keith Taylor)
  • Liber XXX Aerum vel Saeculi Sub Figura
  • Liber Aleph vel CXI – The Book of Wisdom or Folly
  • Liber E and Liber O
  • Little Essays Toward Truth
  • Living Midnight (with Jan Fries)
  • Magick – In Theory and Practice
  • Magick Without Tears
  • Meditation
  • Mysticism – Meditation: The way of attainment of genius or Godhead considered as a development of the human brain
  • Moonchild
  • Oracles – The Autobiography of an Art
  • Orpheus – A Lyrical Legend
  • Portable Darkness
  • Rosa Coeli Rosa Mundi Rosa Inferni (under the pen name of H.D. Carr)
  • Snowdrops from a Curate’s Garden
  • Songs of the Spirit
  • Tannhäuser; A Story of All Time
  • The Argonauts
  • The Book of the Goetia of Solomon the King
  • The Book of the Law
  • The Book of Thoth – A short essay on the Tarot of the Egyptians
  • The Confessions of Aleister Crowley – An Autohagiography
  • The Drug & Other Stories
  • The Equinox (Equinox Series)
  • The Equinox of the Gods
  • The General Principles of Astrology (with Evangeline Adams)
  • The Greater and Lesser Keys of Solomon the King (with S.L. McGregor Mathers)
  • The Handbook of Geomancy
  • The Heart of the Master
  • The Holy Book of Thelema
  • The Magical Record of the Beast 666
  • The Practice of Enochian Magick
  • The Psychology of Hashish
  • The Revival of Magick – And Other Essays
  • The Rites of Eleusis
  • The Scented Garden of Abdullah the Satirist of Shiraz
  • The Scrutinies of Simon Iff
  • The Soul of Osiris – Comprising The temple of the Holy Ghost and The mother’s tragedy
  • The Star and the Garter
  • The Stratagem and other Stories
  • The Sword of Song – Called by Christians, The book of the beast
  • The Vision & The Voice – With Commentary and Other Papers
  • The Winged Beetle
  • The World’s Tragedy
  • Thoth Tarot Deck (with Frieda Harris)
  • White Stains
  1. The Plymouth Brethren is an evangelical Christian community that originated in Dublin, Ireland, in 1820. Their doctrine emphasises biblical prophecies and the second coming of Christ. ↩︎
  2. The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn is an occult society dedicated to studying and practising magical and theurgical activities. It was founded in 1888 in Great Britain by William Robert Woodman, William Wynn Westcott, and Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers, who were Freemasons and had ties to the Rosicrucian Society in Anglia. Westcott was also a member of the Theosophical Society. The founding of the Golden Dawn was reportedly prompted by the discovery of the Cypher Manuscript, a collection of rituals of uncertain origin written in English and utilising an encryption system attributed to the Benedictine abbot Johannes Trithemius. Although the original line of succession has experienced numerous splits, and no temples currently belong to it, many organisations continue to revive and uphold its teachings and rituals. ↩︎
  3. Enochian magic is a system of ceremonial magic designed for the evocation of various spirits. It is based on the writings of John Dee and Edward Kelley, two sixteenth-century English occultists. According to Dee and Kelley, the system originated from the transcription of communications with angels that took place between 1582 and 1589. The Enochian evocations were later incorporated into the Golden Dawn’s system of ceremonial magic. However, many critics have raised concerns about the incompleteness of the documentation left by Dee and the potential risks associated with its practice. ↩︎
  4. Raja Yoga is regarded as the highest form of yoga, focusing primarily on meditation until achieving communion with the Supreme Self. ↩︎
  5. Horus is the Egyptian god of the sky and the son of Isis, the goddess of fertility, and Osiris, the god of death and resurrection. He represents the balancing principle between creative and destructive forces. ↩︎
  6. The Book of Abramelin is a grimoire presented in an epistolary format, recounting the story of Abraham of Worms, a German Jew who lived around 1350. During a trip to Egypt, he encounters the magician Abra-Melin, who allows him to copy two manuscripts containing what is known as ‘True Magic’. Abraham later passes this knowledge on to his son, Lamech. The magical operations described in the grimoire are pretty complex and require a preparatory period of either 6 or 18 months, culminating in a vision of the Guardian Angel. This angel reveals the secrets contained within the book. The practices outlined in the Book of Abramelin have been influential in the initiation systems of both the Golden Dawn and Thelema. ↩︎
  7. The abbreviation ‘A∴A∴’ has been attributed several meanings. The most significant interpretation is “Argenteum Astrum,” which translates to “Silver Star.” Other meanings include “Astron Argon,” the Greek transliteration of Silver Star; “Arikh Anpin,” which refers to the Long Face, an aspect of divine emanation in Kabbalah; “Arcanum Arcanorum”; and “Angel and Abyss,” representing the aspiration to encounter one’s Guardian Angel and to overcome the Abyss of the Cabalistic Tree of Life. ↩︎
  8. Fernando Pessoa (1888-1935) was a Portuguese writer, literary critic, and translator, considered one of the greatest poets in his country. He developed a strong enthusiasm for occultism, hermeticism, alchemy, and astrology. ↩︎
  9. Wicca is a religious movement that is based on Western esotericism. It emerged in Britain during the first half of the twentieth century and was popularised by Gerald Gardner, a retired civil servant. Wicca draws its ritual inspiration from hermetic practices and pagan motifs. Due to its highly decentralised nature, the movement has given rise to various sects, lineages, and denominations over the decades. As a result, the term “Wicca” can sometimes refer to movements that share some key characteristics, even if they differ in other ways. Typically, Wicca is duotheistic, involving the worship of a goddess in her triune form (the Maiden, the Mother, and the Crone) and the Horned God, who is associated with nature, sexuality, and the cycles of life. ↩︎