“Let the Zelator attach no credit to statements that may have been made throughout the course of this instruction, and reflect that even the counsel which we have given as suitable to the average may be entirely unsuitable to his own.”
Field: Writer, occultist.
Born: 12 October 1875.
Background: Crowley became interested in the occult while an undergraduate at Cambridge University, and he later founded the order known as the Silver Star. He travelled widely, settling for some years in Sicily with a group of disciples at the Abbey of Thelema. Rumours of drug abuse, orgies, and magical ceremonies led to his expulsion from Italy. He liked to be known as “the great beast” and “the wickedest man alive,” and it remains a mysterious coincidence that many who associated with him died tragically. He is without any doubt the greatest mystic of modern time, and was a “rock star” in his own baroque way. Love him or hate him, Crowley’s work left a lasting impression on all western occultist practices.
Works: Crowley wrote voluminously. His greatest works include Magick in Theory and Practice, Magick Without Tears, 777, The Book of Lies (Falsely So Called), The Book of the Law, and The Equinox (a periodical, quite difficult to find).
Biographies: The Eye in the Triangle (by Israel Regardie).
Lesson: ‘Do What Thou Wilt Shall Be The Whole Of The Law’