Aleister Crowley facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Aleister Crowley
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Crowley in 1925
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Edward Alexander Crowley
12 October 1875 Royal Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, England
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| Died | 1 December 1947 (aged 72) Hastings, East Sussex, England
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| Resting place | Ashes buried in Hampton, New Jersey |
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| Children | 5 |
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Aleister Crowley (born Edward Alexander Crowley; 12 October 1875 – 1 December 1947) was an English occultist, philosopher, ceremonial magician, poet, painter, novelist and mountaineer. He founded the religion of Thelema, identifying himself as the prophet. A prolific writer, he published widely over the course of his life.
Biography
Crowley was born to a wealthy family in Royal Leamington Spa, Warwickshire. He was educated at Trinity College at the University of Cambridge, where he focused his attentions on mountaineering and poetry, resulting in several publications. He then went to India, where he studied Hindu and Buddhist practices. In 1904, he married Rose Edith Kelly and they honeymooned in Cairo, Egypt, where Crowley claimed to have been contacted by a supernatural entity named Aiwass, who provided him with The Book of the Law, a sacred text that served as the basis for Thelema. Announcing the start of the Æon of Horus, The Book declared that its followers should "Do what thou wilt" and seek to align themselves with their True Will through the practice of magick.
After the unsuccessful 1905 Kanchenjunga expedition and a visit to India and China, Crowley returned to Britain, where he attracted attention as a prolific author of poetry, novels and occult literature. In 1907, he and George Cecil Jones co-founded an esoteric order, the A∴A∴, through which they propagated Thelema. After spending time in Algeria, in 1912 he was initiated into another esoteric order, the German-based Ordo Templi Orientis (O.T.O.), rising to become the leader of its British branch, which he reformulated in accordance with his Thelemite beliefs. Through the O.T.O., Thelemite groups were established in Britain, Australia and North America. Crowley spent the First World War in the United States, where he took up painting and campaigned for the German war effort against Britain, later revealing that he had infiltrated the pro-German movement to assist the British intelligence services. In 1920, he established the Abbey of Thelema, a religious commune in Cefalù, Sicily where he lived with various followers. His lifestyle led to denunciations in the British press, and the Italian government evicted him in 1923. He divided the following two decades between France, Germany and England, and continued to promote Thelema until his death.
Crowley died at Netherwood of chronic bronchitis on 1 December 1947, aged 72.
Crowley has remained a highly influential figure and continues to be considered a prophet in Thelema. He is the subject of various biographies and academic studies.
Beliefs and thought
Crowley's belief system, Thelema, has been described by scholars as a religion, and more specifically as both a new religious movement, and as a "magico-religious doctrine".
In his autobiography, Crowley claimed that his purpose in life had been to "bring oriental wisdom to Europe and to restore paganism in a purer form", although what he meant by "paganism" was unclear.
Crowley's thought was not always cohesive, and was influenced by a variety of sources, ranging from eastern religious movements and practices like Hindu yoga and Buddhism, scientific naturalism, and various currents within Western esotericism, among them ceremonial magic, alchemy, astrology, Rosicrucianism, Kabbalah, and the Tarot.
Thelema revolves around the idea that human beings each have their own True Will that they should discover and pursue, and that this exists in harmony with the Cosmic Will that pervades the universe. Crowley referred to this process of searching and discovery of one's True Will to be "the Great Work".
Images for kids
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Aleister Crowley was born as Edward Alexander Crowley at 30 Clarendon Square in Royal Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, on 12 October 1875.
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Crowley in Golden Dawn garb, 1910
