Merry we meet - Merry we meet - Merry we meet
Welcome to
Controverscial.Com
Merry we meet - Merry we meet - Merry we meet
Welcome to
Controverscial.Com
|
|
Pagan Pioneers: Founders, Elders, Leaders and Others
Aleister Crowley (1875-1947)
Written and compiled by George Knowles.
Aleister
Crowley was perhaps the most controversial and misunderstood personality to
figure in the new era of modern day witchcraft.
Known by the popular press of his time as “The Great Beast”
and “The Wickedest Man in the World”, Crowley was a powerful
magician, poet, prophet and famed occultist. Perhaps due to his notoriety and reputation as a bad man,
many myths and untruths about him have been circulate, including one alleging he
was once a practicing witch, although most of the elders of the craft would
discredit him that title.
Crowley like many great men before him was a man before his time. He lived in a society that could little understand him or appreciated his latent genius. His writings so shocked the peoples of his era that he was robbed of the praise that it merited, and as a poet he never received the recognition he deserved.
Schoolboy, aged 14 Crowley was born on the 12th October 1875 in Leamington Spa, Warwickshire. His parents Edward Crowley and his wife Emily were wealthy brewers and the epitome of respectability. They were also devout Christians and staunch members of the Plymouth Brethren sect. They brought up young Crowley in an atmosphere of pious religious narrow-mindedness, against which he constantly rebelled. His whole life thereafter seems to have been a revolt against his parents and everything they stood for. His father died when he was 11 years old.
Crowley's
Father and Mother After
the death of his father, Crowley inherited the family fortune and went on to be
educated at Trinity College Cambridge. There he wrote and studied poetry. He loved the out-doors life and was a capable mountain
climber in pursuit of which he attempted some of the highest peaks in the
Himalayas. In 1898 he published his
first book of poetry called “Aceldama, A Place to Bury Strangers In”,
a philosophical poem by a “Gentleman of the University of Cambridge”
in 1898. In the preface he
describes how God and Satan had fought for his soul and states:
“God conquered – and now I have only one doubt left – which of
the twain was God?”
It was while he was at Trinity that Crowley became interested in the occult and with his roommate Allan Bennett, they began to study whatever they could. Crowley soon discovered that he was excited by descriptions of torture and blood. He liked to fantasize about being degraded and abused by a “Scarlet Women”, one who was dominant, wicked and independent.
A youngish Aleister Crowley - Allan Bennett One
of the books he read about this time was by the author “Arthur
Edward Waite”, entitled “The Book of Black Magic and of Pacts”.
It hinted at a secret brotherhood of occultists and Crowley became even
more intrigued. He wrote to Waite
for more information and was referred to “The Cloud upon the Sanctuary”
– By Karl von
Exkartshausen. This book tells
of the “Great White Brotherhood” and Crowley determined he wanted to
join this group and advance to its highest levels.
Later that year on the 18th November 1898, he and Bennett both joined the
“Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn”, the elusive Great White
Brotherhood (see S.L.
MacGregor Mathers and the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn). In
1899 Crowley is reported to have become a member of one of “Old George
Pickingill’s” hereditary covens situated in the New Forrest, although
apparently he was not welcome for long (see Old
George Pickingill). It is
alleged that he obtained his “Second Degree” before being dismissed
due to his contemptuous attitude toward women, failure to attend rituals with
regularity, his personal ego and sexual perversion (Crowley had a bias toward
homosexuality and the bizarre, shocking during his time even amongst witches).
The priestess of his coven later described him as “a dirty-minded,
evilly-disposed and vicious little monster!” As
well as being dismissed and outcaste by the New Forrest witches, all was not
well within the Golden Dawn. By
this time Crowley had moved out of Trinity Collage without earning his degree,
and taken a flat in Chancery Lane, London.
There he took the name of “Count Vladimir” and began to pursue
his occult studies on a full-time basis. Crowley
had a natural aptitude for magick and advanced quickly through the ranks of the
Golden Dawn, but the London lodge leaders considered him unsuitable for
advancement into the second order. Crowley went to Paris in 1899 to see “S.L. MacGregor
Mathers”, the then head of the Order and insisted that he be initiated
into the second Order. Mathers at
the time was experiencing growing dissension to his absolute rule from London,
and sensed in Crowley an ally. To
the consternation of the London lodge he readily agreed to Crowley’s request
and initiated him into the second order. However
their allegiance was an uneasy one, for Mathers like Crowley was a powerful
magician and both were intensely competitive.
Mathers taught Crowley “Abra-Melin” magick but neither
attained any of the grades of the A\A\. They
quarreled constantly and allegedly engaged in magical warfare.
Mathers is said to have sent an astral vampire to attack Crowley who
responded with an army of demons led by Beelzebub.
In April 1900, Mathers due to problems within the London lodge,
dispatched Crowley back to England as his “Special Envoy” where he
made an abortive attempt to regain control.
Shortly thereafter both Mathers and Crowley were expelled from the order.
Crowley began to travel, mostly in the East studying Eastern Occult systems and “Tantric Yoga”; he also studied “Buddhism” and the “I Ching”. Then for a time he lived in an isolated setting near to Loch Ness in Scotland. In 1903 he met and then married Rose Edith Kelly, sister of the well-known artist Sir Gerald Kelly. She bore him one child. While they where on holiday in Egypt the following year, April 1904, he and Rose took part in a magical ritual during which he alleges to have received a message from the God’s. As a result of this communication he wrote down the first three chapters of his most famous book “Liber Legis, the Book of Law”. This book contains his oft-quoted dictum: “Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law. Love is the Law, Love under Will”, upon which Crowley based the rest of his life and teachings.
Rose Edith Kelly - Crowley's first wife In
1909 Crowley began to explore levels of the astral plane with his assistant, a
poet called “Victor Neuberg”; using “Enochian” magick.
Crowley believed he crossed the Abyss and united his consciousness with
the universal consciousness. He
describes the astral journeys in “The Vision and the Voice”, which
was first published in his periodical “The Equinox” and then
posthumously in 1949. Never
far from controversy in 1909 through to 1913, Crowley serialized the secret
rituals of the Golden Dawn in his magazine “the Equinox”, which he
also used as a vehicle for his poetry. Mathers who had written most of the rituals and who was still
his greatest antagonist tried but failed to get a legal injunction to stop him.
His action only served to gained Crowley more press publicity and
notoriety. By now Crowley was fast becoming infamous as a Black magician and Satanist, he openly identified himself with the number 666, the biblical number for the antichrist. He also kept 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 several attempts with several of these women to beget a “Magical child”, none of which worked and instead he fictionalized his attempts in a book called “Moonchild”, published in 1929.
Leah Hirsig - the “Ape of Thoth” In
1912 Crowley became involved with the British section of the O.T.O. (“the
Ordo Temple Orientis or Order of the Temple of the East”), a German occult
order practicing magick. He then
moved and lived in America from 1915 to 1919, moving again in 1920 to Sicily
where he established the notorious “Abbey of Thelema” at Cefalu.
In
Sicily he proceeded to involve himself in Italian occultism and in 1922 became
the head of the “Ordo Temple Orientis”.
However (as he routinely did) he began to attract more bad publicity.
The press denounced him as “The Wickedest Man in the World”
because of the alleged satanic goings on in the Abbey.
It has now come to light that many of the allegations were false and were
no more than press sensationalism. However
their effect had serious repercussions for Crowley.
In 1923 Mussolini the then ruler of Italy stepped in and expelled him
from Sicily. Crowley wondered around for a while visiting such places as Tunisia and Germany before settling for a time in France. While in France he engaged as his secretary the services of another aspiring magician “Israel Regardie”. Regardie would later become famous himself and played a prominent role in exposing the complete rituals of the “Golden Dawn” to the public (see Israel Regardie). As Crowley continued to travel around Europe he picked up a growing heroin addiction, a habit he would suffer from for the rest of his life. Back in England in 1929 he met and married his second wife “Maria Ferrari de Miramar”. The marriage took place in Leipzig, Germany.
Maria Ferrari de Miramar and Crowley
In
1932 Crowley met with “Sybil Leek” another famous witch and became a
frequent visitor to her home. Sybil
a hereditary witch was only nine years old at the time and later wrote in her
autobiography “Diary of a Witch” - (New York: Signet, 1969), that
Crowley talked to her about witchcraft. He taught her the words of power and instructed her on the
use of certain words for their vibratory qualities when working with magick (see
Sybil Leek).
Already notorious and well known to the press, Crowley then became involved in a famous and sensational libel case. In 1934 before Mr. Justice Swift, he sued Nina Hamnett a prominent sculptress. Nina had published a book “Laughing Torso” (Constable and Co., London, 1932) in which Crowley alleged she had libeled him by saying he that the practiced black magic. As the case preceded the other side produced such evidence of Crowley’s bizarre life-style and scandalous writings that the justice was horrified. Crowley lost the case and was forced into bankruptcy, much to the delight of the popular press who again had a field day.
Crowley in his room in Jermyn Street, Piccadilly circa 1943 In his penultimate year 1946, a mutual friend “Arnold Crowther” introduced Crowley to “Gerald B. Gardner”. His meetings with Gardner would later lead to controversy over the authenticity of Gardner’s original “Book of Shadows”. It was alleged that Gardner paid Crowley to write it for him? But this has now been discounted. While it did contain some of Crowley’s writings, this was the result of Gardner and Crowley comparing notes on rituals used in “Old George Pickingill’s” covens in the New Forrest area. Doreen Valiente in her book “Witchcraft for Tomorrow” does much to shed light on this controversy.
Crowley
near the end of his life At the time of his meetings with Gerald Gardner, Crowley was a feeble
old man living in retirement at a private hotel in Hastings, barely kept alive
by the use of drugs. It was here
that he passed from this world into the next on the 01st December 1947.
Unrepentant and unbowed he left this world with a final snub at the
society that had so misunderstood him, he left instructions that he was to be
cremated and instead of the usual religious service, his own “Hymn to Pan”
and other extracts from his writings was to be proclaimed from the pulpit.
Finally his ashes were to be sent to his disciples in America. In many ways Aleister Crowley was not a well-liked man, but he influenced and had an effect on the build up to the new era of modern witchcraft. His knowledge of witchcraft and magick was profound and without question, and he has passed on that knowledge through his books. In today’s more liberal society more and more of Crowley’s books are being reprinted as we begin to appreciate his strange genius. Indeed some of his books have now gained classical status. These include: “Gnostic Mass and The Book of Law” (New York: Samuel Weiser, 1977) from which portions of the well known “Charge of the Goddess” were written by Doreen Valiente. Other books include: “Magick in Theory and Practice”, “777 And Other Qabalistic Writing” and “The Book of Thoth” to mention just a few. End.
Sources
An ABC of Witchcraft Past and Present - By Doreen Valiente Encyclopedia of Wicca &
Witchcraft - By Raven Grimassi Witchcraft for Tomorrow - By Doreen Valiente
Note: This article is now showing with my permission at http://groups.msn.com/BEWITCHEDPSYCHICREADINGS
Best wishes and Blessed Be
|
|
Site Contents - Links to all Pages
A Universal Message:
Let there be peace in the world - Where have all the flowers gone?
About me: My Personal Page / My Place in England / My Family Tree (Ancestry)
Wicca & Witchcraft
Wicca/Witchcraft / What is Wicca / What is Magick
Traditional Writings:
The Wiccan Rede / Charge of the Goddess / Charge of the God / The Three-Fold Law (includes The Law of Power and The Four Powers of the Magus) / The Witches Chant / The Witches Creed / Descent of the Goddess / Drawing Down the Moon / The Great Rite Invocation / Invocation of the Horned God / The 13 Principles of Wiccan Belief / The Witches Rede of Chivalry / A Pledge to Pagan Spirituality
Correspondence Tables:
Incense / Candles / Colours / Magickal Days / Stones and Gems / Elements and Elementals
Traditions:
Traditions Part 1 - Alexandrian Wicca / Aquarian Tabernacle Church (ATC) / Ár Ndraíocht Féin (ADF) / Blue Star Wicca / British Traditional (Druidic Witchcraft) / Celtic Wicca / Ceremonial Magic / Chaos Magic / Church and School of Wicca / Circle Sanctuary / Covenant of the Goddess (COG) / Covenant of Unitarian Universalist Pagans (CUUPS) / Cyber Wicca / Dianic Wicca / Eclectic Wicca / Feri Wicca /
Traditions Part 2 - Gardnerian Wicca / Georgian Tradition / Henge of Keltria / Hereditary Witchcraft / Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn (H.O.G.D.) / Kitchen Witch (Hedge Witch) / Minoan Brotherhood and Minoan Sisterhood Tradition / Nordic Paganism / Pagan Federation / Pectic-Wita / Seax-Wica / Shamanism / Solitary / Strega / Sylvan Tradition / Vodoun or Voodoo / Witches League of Public Awareness (WLPA) /
Other things of interest:
Gods and Goddesses (Greek
Mythology) / Esbats &
Full Moons / Links
to Personal Friends & Resources / Wicca/Witchcraft
Resources / What's a spell? /
Circle Casting and
Sacred Space / Pentagram
- Pentacle / Marks
of a Witch / The Witches
Power / The Witches Hat
/ An
esoteric guide to visiting London / Satanism
/ Pow-wow
/ The
Unitarian Universalist Association / Numerology: Part 1
/ Part 2 / Part
3 / A
history of the Malleus Maleficarum: includes: Pope
Innocent VIII /
The
papal Bull /
The
Malleus Maleficarum /
An extract from the Malleus Maleficarum
/ The letter of approbation
/ Johann
Nider’s Formicarius /
Jacob
Sprenger /
Heinrich Kramer /
Stefano Infessura
/ Montague Summers /
The Waldenses
/ The Albigenses
/
The Hussites / The
Native American Sun Dance
/ Shielding (Occult
and Psychic Protection) /
Sabbats and Festivals:
The Sabbats in History and Mythology / Samhain (October 31st) / Yule (December 21st) / Imbolc (February 2nd) / Ostara (March 21st) / Beltane (April 30th) / Litha (June 21st) / Lammas/Lughnasadh (August 1st) / Mabon (September 21st)
Rituals contributed by Crone:
Samhain / Yule / Imbolc / Ostara / Beltane / Litha / Lammas / Mabon
Tools:
Tools of a Witch / The Besom (Broom) / Poppets and Dolls / Pendulums / Cauldron Magick / Mirror Gazing
Animals:
Animals in Witchcraft (The Witches Familiar and Totem Animals) / Antelope / Bats / Crow / Fox / Frog and Toads / Goat / Honeybee / Kangaroo / Lion / Owl / Phoenix / Rabbits and Hares / Raven / Robin Redbreast / Sheep / Spider / Squirrel / Swans / Unicorn / Wild Boar / Wolf / Serpent / Pig / Stag / Horse / Mouse / Cat / Rats / Unicorn
Trees:
In Worship of Trees - Myths, Lore and the Celtic Tree Calendar. For descriptions and correspondences of the thirteen sacred trees of Wicca/Witchcraft see the following: Birch / Rowan / Ash / Alder / Willow / Hawthorn / Oak / Holly / Hazel / Vine / Ivy / Reed / Elder
Sacred Sites:
Mystical Sacred Sites - Stonehenge / Glastonbury Tor / Malta - The Hypogeum of Hal Saflieni / Avebury / Cerne Abbas - The Chalk Giant / Ireland - Newgrange /
Rocks and Stones:
Stones - History, Myths and Lore
Articles contributed by Patricia Jean Martin:
Apophyllite / Amber / Amethyst / Aquamarine / Aragonite / Aventurine / Black Tourmaline / Bloodstone / Calcite / Carnelian / Celestite / Citrine / Chrysanthemum Stone / Diamond / Emerald / Fluorite / Garnet / Hematite / Herkimer Diamond / Labradorite / Lapis Lazuli / Malachite / Moonstone / Obsidian / Opal / Pyrite / Quartz (Rock Crystal) / Rose Quartz / Ruby / Selenite / Seraphinite / Silver and Gold / Smoky Quartz / Sodalite / Sunstone / Thunderegg / Tree Agate / Zebra Marble
Wisdom and Inspiration:
Knowledge vs Wisdom by Ardriana Cahill / I Talk to the Trees / Awakening / The Witch in You / A Tale of the Woods / I have a Dream by Martin Luther King /
Articles and Stories about Witchcraft:
Murdered by Witchcraft / The Fairy Witch of Clonmel / A Battleship, U-boat, and a Witch / The Troll-Tear (A story for Children) / Goody Hawkins - The Wise Goodwife / The Story of Jack-O-Lantern / The Murder of the Hammersmith Ghost / Josephine Gray (The Infamous Black Widow) / The Two Brothers - Light and Dark
Old Masters of Academia: (Our Ancestors)
Pliny the Elder / Hesiod / Pythagoras / Paracelsus / Abramelin the Mage / Archimedes / Agrippa / Socrates / Aristotle / Albertus Magnus - “Albert the Great” / Biographies
A "Who's Who" of Witches, Pagans and other associated People (Ancient, Past and Present)
(Departed Pagan Pioneers, Founders, Elders and Others)
Pagan
Pioneers: Founders, Elders, Leaders and Others
Aidan A Kelly / Aleister Crowley - “The Great Beast” / Alex Sanders - “King of the Witches” / Alison Harlow / Allan Bennett - the Ven. Ananda Metteyya / Allan Kardec (Spiritism) / Alphonsus de Spina / Amber K / Ann Moura / Anna Franklin / Anodea Judith / Anton Szandor LaVey / Arnold Crowther / Arthur Edward Waite / Austin Osman Spare / Balthasar Bekker / Biddy Early / Barbara Vickers / Bridget Cleary - The Fairy Witch of Clonmel / Carl " Llewellyn" Weschcke / Cecil Hugh Williamson / Charles Godfrey Leland / Charles Walton / Christopher Penczak / Christina Oakley Harrington / Cornelius Loos / Damh the Bard - "Dave Smith" / Dion Fortune / Dolores Aschroft-Nowicki / Donald Michael Kraig / Doreen Valiente / Dorothy Morrison / Dr. John Dee & Edward Kelly / Dr. Leo Louis Martello / Edain McCoy / Edward Fitch / Eleanor Ray Bone - “Matriarch of British Witchcraft” / Eliphas Levi / Ernest Thompson Seton / Ernest Westlake / Fiona Horne / Frederick McLaren Adams - Feraferia / Friedrich von Spee / Francis Barrett / Gavin and Yvonne Frost and the School and Church of Wicca / Gerald B. Gardner - The father of contemporary Witchcraft / Gwydion Pendderwen / Hans Holzer / Helen Duncan / Hermann Löher / Herman Slater - Horrible Herman / Heinrich Kramer / Idries Shah / Isaac Bonewits / Israel Regardie / Ivo Domínguez Jr. / Jack Whiteside Parsons - Rocket Science and Magick / James "Cunning" Murrell - The Master of Witches / Janet Farrar and Gavin Bone / Jean Bodin / Jessie Wicker Bell - “Lady Sheba” / Johann Weyer / Johannes Junius - "The Burgomaster of Bamberg" / Johann Georg Fuchs von Dornheim - the “Hexenbrenner” (witch burner) / John Belham-Payne / John George Hohman - "Pow-wow" / John Gerard / John Gordon Hargrave and the Kibbo Kith Kindred / John Michael Greer / John Score / Joseph “Bearwalker” Wilson / Joseph John Campbell / Karl von Eckartshausen / Lady Gwen Thompson - and "The Rede of the Wiccae" / Lambert Daneau / Laurie Cabot - "the Official Witch of Salem" / Lewis Spence / Lodovico Maria Sinistrari / Ludwig Lavater / Madeline Montalban and the Order of the Morning Star / Margaret Alice Murray / Margot Adler / Michael Howard and the UK "Cauldron Magazine" / Margaret St. Clair - the “Sign of the Labrys” / Marie Laveau - " the Voodoo Queen of New Orleans" / Marion Weinstein / Martin Antoine Del Rio / Matthew Hopkins - “The Witch-Finder General” / Michael A. Aquino - and The Temple of Set / Monique Wilson / Montague Summers / Nicholas Culpeper / Nicholas Remy / M. R. Sellars / Mrs. Maud Grieve - "A Modern Herbal" / Oberon Zell-Ravenheart and Morning Glory / Old Dorothy Clutterbuck / Old George Pickingill / Olivia Durdin-Robertson - co-founder of the Fellowship of Isis / Paddy Slade / Pamela Colman-Smith / Patricia Crowther / Patricia Monaghan / Patricia “Trish” Telesco / Paul Foster Case and the “Builders of the Adytum” mystery school / Peter Binsfeld / Philip Heselton / Raven Grimassi / Raymond Buckland / Reginald Scot / Richard Baxter / Robert Cochrane / Robert ‘von Ranke’ Graves and the "The White Goddess" / Rosaleen Norton - “The Witch of Kings Cross” / Rossell Hope Robbins / Ross Nichols and the " Order of Bards, Ovates & Druids" (OBOD) / Rudolf Steiner / Sabrina Underwood - "The Ink Witch" / Scott Cunningham / Selena Fox - founder of "Circle Sanctuary" / Silver Ravenwolf / Sir Francis Dashwood / Sir James George Frazer and the " The Golden Bough" / S.L. MacGregor Mathers and the “Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn” / Starhawk / Stewart Farrar / Sybil Leek / Ted Andrews / The Mather Family - (includes: Richard Mather, Increase Mather and Cotton Mather ) / Thomas Ady / T. Thorn Coyle / Vera Chapman / Victor & Cora Anderson and the " Feri Tradition" / Vivianne Crowley / Walter Brown Gibson / Walter Ernest Butler / William Butler Yeats / Zsuzsanna Budapest /
Many of the above biographies are briefs and far from complete. If you know about any of these individuals and can help with additional information, please contact me privately at my email address below. Many thanks for reading :-)
"FAIR USE NOTICE"While I have taken due care and diligence to credit all sources where possible, this website may contain copyrighted material which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. My use of making such material available here is done so in my efforts to advance our understanding of religious discrimination, the environmental and social justice issues etc. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this website for purposes of your own then you must obtain permission from the relevant copyright owner yourself.Any queries please contact me at email - George@controverscial.com
Email_Witches My online email discussion group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Email_Witches
Dove of Peace Help send a message of peace around the world! The Dove of Peace flies from site to site, through as many countries as possible. It does not belong to ANY belief system. Please help make a line around the globe by taking it with you to your site, by giving it to someone for their site, by passing it on to another continent or to the conflict areas of the world. May trouble and strife be vanquished in it's path.
mailto:George@controverscial.com
|
