Edward Alexander Crowley (rhymes with Holy) b. Oct. 12, 1875ev. In Leamington Spa.

His family where members of the Plymouth Brethren Sect. Literal interpretation of the bible. Only book he was aloud to read at home. They prospered in the brewery business. Father died just before turning 12. Trinity college at Cambridge. Horizons widened. Began experimenting with sex. Read poetry, religion, history, philosophy, and science. Starts writing poetry. After 3 yrs left without graduating. Was searching for some kind of spiritual order and found it in the G.D. Joined in Nov. of 1898 quickly raising thru the outer grades and mastering the material. In fact with the help of Allen Bennet and other adepts he befriended started working with advanced material. A schism broke out between Samuel Liddell "MacGregor" Mathers , the head of the order, and the London adepts. Crowley sided with Mathers who initiated him to the inner order. But eventually he grew disenchanted and drifted away from the Order. In 1904 Crowley was on honeymoon with his wife, Rose Kelly in Cairo Egypt. One night in the kings chamber of the great pyramid he demonstrated some magick for Rose's amusement. Afterward she began to say that Horus was trying to contact him. At first Crowley didn't take this seriously but when she persisted he began to test her. He knew that she knew next to nothing about Egyptology but to his amazement she was able to answer his questions. Rose described a ritual for him to perform on March 20 this led to the reception of the book of the law on Apr. 8, 9. and 10th at first Crowley didn't know what to make of this and he set it aside for a few years. After extended travels in the east Crowley returned to England their daughter had contracted typhoid and died, Rose was sinking into alcoholism. Crowley felt that the gods where punishing him for ignoring their message. He went to stay with his friend and GD mentor George Cecil Jones. The two decided to form a new Order call the A.'.A.'. He began publishing the Equinox a twice yearly periodical billed the official organ of the AA it appeared for 5 yrs. For a total of 10 Vol. In 1912 Crowley published a little book called the book of lies. It consists of 93 very short chaps. Each one a meditation on the number of its chapter. One of these chapters caught the attention of Theodor Ruess the head of the OTO because it supposedly revealed the central secret of the OTO Ruess made Crowley swear an oath of secrecy and crowned him the head of the OTO in England and all the English speaking world. Over the following yrs. Crowley revised the english rituals to conform with the book of the law making the OTO the first old aeon order to accept Thelema. Crowley succeeded Reuss as outer head of the order when he died in 1923. When war broke out in Europe (14) Crowley when to America. He'd spent most of his fortune on travel, self publishing, and extravagant living. He hoped to sell some of his back stock of books to wealthy new yorkers. He also infiltrated pro German propaganda machine and worked to discredit them In the eyes of the world and help bring America into the war on the side of Great Britain. He didn't have much success at raising funds but he did seem to have some impact in his espionage. Secret Agent 666 by Richard B. Spence. During his stay in America he also made considerable progress in his personal magical initiation. When the war ended Crowley and Leah hirsig made their way to Cefalu, Sicily to setup a Thelemic Commune. They dubbed it the Abbey of Thelema drawing from Rablais' classic Gargantua and Pantagruel. Disciples from all over the world traveled to study with Crowley and discover their true wills. Life at the abbey consisted of daily ritual, yoga, and experimentation with sex and drugs. One promising disciple was an young Oxford student named Federick Charles Raoul Loveday. Tragical

he died after drinking contaminated spring water. Raoul's grief stricken and embittered widow Betty May returned to London and told the tabloids that her husband had died from drinking the blood of a cat that had been killed in an infernal rite. The London press had a field day with this and other stories branding Crowley the wickedest man in the world. Crowley didn't have the $ to return to London and defend his name. He watched from afar as the stories piled up until he was finally expelled from Italy by Mussolinis government. Crowley continued to publish important works on magick and work with students until the end of his life on Dec. 1 1947ev. He died alone in his room therefor reports of his last words are lies. The Truth of A.C.'s life is far more interesting than the legend. Many untrue stories circulate to this day. There's no doubt he lived a wild life and relished pushing the boundarys of uptight society. I think it's important to make clear that Crowley is not infallible to Thelemites. Detractors will say Crowley did x y and z therefore his followers must immolate those actions. Simply not true. Every spiritual teacher has there less than perfect attributes. It's just that after there gone there followers gloss over or even cover them up. With A.C. This is impossible. Thank the Gods! Every magician who's drawn to the thelemic current has to wrestle with the Demon Crowley and ultimately come to there own conclusions as to what's useful to there unique path. A.C. Was a very complex person. He was Egotistical, arrogant, and often difficlut to get along with. He was also a genius. If you're interested in learning more about this fascinating character you should read: Perdurabo: The Life of Aleister Crowley by Richard Kaczynski, Ph. D. The Weiser Concise Guide to Aleister Crowley by

Do What Thou Wilt: A Life of Aleister Crowley by Lawrence Sutin The Confessions of Aleister Crowley