Aleister Crowley (46 page)

50
.
Netherwood
, 70.

51
. Kenneth Grant,
Remembering Aleister Crowley
(London: Skoob Books, 1991), v.

52
. Ibid., 1.

53
. Ibid., 27.

54
. Ibid., 36.

55
.
Netherwood
, 72–73.

56
. Ibid., 20.

57
. Ibid., 40 and Dave Evans,
The History of British Magic After Crowley
(Hidden Publishing, 2007), 289.

58
. Evans,
The History of British Magic After Crowley,
287.

59
. There is no evidence that Crowley ever read or even knew about Lovecraft, but there is a possible reference to Lovecraft’s literary milieu in a letter of Crowley’s to Jane Wolfe. Referring to the sort of thing Jack Whiteside Parsons—who we encounter further on—read, Crowley called it “magazine trash.” Parsons was a science fiction fanatic and may have read Lovecraft’s stories in the pulps. See John Carter,
Sex and Rockets: The Occult World of Jack Parsons
(Los Angeles: Feral House, 2004), 102. Lovecraft was a confirmed materialist and although aware of the occult tradition—he mentions Eliphas Levi and theosophy in some stories—makes no mention of Crowley.
After writing about Grant in
Turn Off Your Mind
,
I received a warm letter from him—a rare communication, I was told by London occultists. Grant was also a champion of the occult artist Austin Osman Spare.

60
. Kenneth Grant,
Remembering Aleister Crowley,
41.

61
. Heinlein’s most famous novel,
Stranger in a Strange Land
(1961), one of the “must-reads” of the ’60s, was heavily influenced by Crowley. See Lachman,
Turn Off Your Mind
, 222–24.

62
. Carter,
Sex and Rockets,
106–7.

63
. For a fuller account of the Babalon Working and Parsons and Hubbard’s association, see Lachman,
Turn Off Your Mind
, 221–33, and also Carter, above.

64
. For more on Marjorie Cameron, see Lachman,
Turn Off Your Mind
, 229–32, and also Lachman,
The Dedalus Book of the 1960s,
471–74.

65
. Lachman,
Turn Off Your Mind
, 230–31.

66
. Carter,
Sex and Rockets
, 149.

67
. Ibid., 150.

68
. Ibid., 155–56.

69
.
Netherwood
, 145.

70
. Sutin,
Do What Thou Wilt
, 394.

71
.
Netherwood
, 81.

72
. Ibid., 122. Crowley even hoped that Orson Welles would use some of his work for a film; a Hollywood
thelemite
apparently had gotten some of Crowley’s writings to him (p. 114). Crowley evidently wasn’t aware that Welles was a skeptic about magic, a sensibility apparent in his Cagliostro biopic
Black Magic
(1949) in which Crowley’s previous incarnation is presented as a charlatan.

73
. Ibid., 118–19.

74
. E. M. Butler,
Paper Boats: An Autobiography
(London: Collins, 1959), 168.

75
. Netherwood
, 33.

76
. Ibid., 157.

77
. Ibid., 170.

78
. Ibid., 144.

79
.
Ibid.
,
107.

80
. Lachman, in
Fortean Times
287 (May 2012).

81
. Ibid., 111.

82
. Ibid., 185–87. The text of Crowley’s letter has been reproduced in several places.

83
. See note 23.

84
. See note 3.

85
. Symonds,
The Great Beast
, 450–54.

86
.
Netherwood
, 151.

87
. Symonds,
The Great Beast
, 9–10; http://www.theguardian.com/news/2006/nov/22/guardianobituaries.booksobituaries and http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1533818/John-Symonds.html.

88
. Wilkinson,
Seven Friends
, 55.

89
. Symonds,
The Great Beast
, 454.

90
.
Netherwood
, 195.

91
. Ibid.

92
. Symonds,
The Great Beast
, 454.

93
.
Netherwood
, 195.

94
. Kenneth Grant relates that Crowley kept a copy of
My Life in a Love Cult: A Warning to All Young Girls
(1928) by Marion Dockerill, who was Alma Hirsig, Leah’s sister, in a trunk under his bed, but it is unclear if, at the time of his death, it was still there. (Grant,
Remembering Aleister Crowley
,
55). Alma had, for a time, been a devotee of Oom the Omnipotent—Pierre Arnold Bernard—who also taught a
kind of sex magick. She later thought better of this and wrote an exposé, http://omnipotentoom.com/archives/838.

ELEVEN: THE BEAST GOES ON

1
. Tim Weinberg, “The Last Ritual,” in
Fortean Times
231 (January 2008), 56–57, an article about the “legends” surrounding Crowley’s cremation.

2
. Quoted in Rodney Davies, “The Last Days of the Great Beast, Aleister Crowley at Hastings,” http://www.21stcenturyradio.com/articles/03/1001231.html.

3
.
Daily Express
,
December 4, 1947.

4
. Clayton, Lachman, Sharp, et al,
Netherwood
, 201; and Weinberg, “The Last Ritual.”

5
. Wilson,
Aleister Crowley
,
9.

6
. The transcript of my lecture is available in
Here to Go: Art, Counter-Culture and the Esoteric
(Stockholm: Edda Publishing, 2012). See also Rebecca Fitzgibbon, “Celluloid Occultist,” in
Fortean Times
231 (January 2008), 50–53.

7
. “That Old Black Magic,” by Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer (1942). “That old black magic has me in its spell / That old black magic that you weave so well . . .”

8
. Jack Kerouac,
On the Road
(New York: Signet Books, 1957), 196.

9
. Lachman,
Turn Off Your Mind
, 356.

10
. http://www.beatlesinterviews.org/db1980.jlpb.beatles.html. Earlier I mentioned Sly and the Family Stone’s “Everybody Is a Star” as a song possibly informed with some Crowleyan motifs; the same may be so of Lennon’s “Instant Karma” (1970); “We all shine on / Like the moon, and the stars, and the sun.”

11
. Hit Parade,
October 1976, 14;
Musician Special Collector’s Edition
, 1988, 12.

12
. International Times
no. 10 (October 5–20, 1967).

13
. Paul Devereux,
The Long Trip: A Prehistory of Psychedelia
(London: Arkana, 1997), 14.

14
. Lachman,
Turn Off Your Mind
, 302–9.

15
. Ibid., 271.

16
. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2gY3dSqs68A.

17
. Timothy Leary,
Confessions of a Hope Fiend
(New York: Bantam Books, 1973), 288.

18
. William Burroughs Jr.,
Crawdaddy
, June 1975 in
Very Seventies: A Cultural History of the 1970s,
eds. Peter Knobler and Greg Mitchell (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1995), 120–27.

19
. Lachman,
Turn Off Your Mind
, 385–86.

20
. Valentine,
New York Rocker
, 226–28.

21
. In Timothy White,
Rock Lives: Profiles and Interviews
(London: Henry Holt & Co., 1990), 584. Oddly, the album
Sacred Space
was a kind of posthumous meeting between Crowley and Gurdjieff. It was produced by the guitarist Robert Fripp, who had been a student of J. G. Bennett, one of Gurdjieff’s most important followers.

22
. http://www.angelfire.com/ga3/thelema/crowley/flexipop666.htm.

23
. Sandy Robertson,
The Aleister Crowley Scrapbook
(York Beach, ME: Samuel Weiser, 1994), 117.

24
. For more on the Process Church of the Final Judgment, as well as Burroughs and Brion Gysin, see Lachman,
Turn Off Your Mind
, 261–78 and 103–6.

25
. Ibid., 387–90.

26
. Loosely based on Dick’s stories “We Can Remember It for You Wholesale” and “Adjustment Team.”

27
. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2312632/Introducing-Satanic-sex-cult-thats-snaring-stars-Peaches-Geldof.html and http://ac2012.com/2010/11/24/thanks-kevin-jonas/.

28
. http://buttaflyytulsa.com/2011/04/17/creepy-passion-for-crowley-fashion/.

29
. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KImMZQiX9I&feature=channel.

30
. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJNfg8UyFeg.

Please note: Crowley’s books are indexed by their titles, followed by (AC). Books by other authors are indexed under the authors’ names.

A...A... (Argentium Astrum; Silver Star), 4–6, 146–47, 154–56, 165, 169, 174, 184, 186, 266, 280, 287, 349n1, 353n12, 363n36

Abraham of Worms, 353n15

Abramelin the Mage, 4, 7, 68, 69, 72–74, 77, 80, 83, 89, 94, 97, 98, 121–22, 133, 138, 143, 232, 295, 313, 315, 353n15

Aceldama
(AC), 46–47, 49, 50, 54, 57, 166

Acéphale, 357n37

Adams, Evangeline, 192, 204

Agape Lodge, 298, 304, 309

Agnostic Journal
, 140, 148

Ahmed, Rollo, 284–85;
The Black Arts
, 284

Alice
(AC), 86

Alpha and Omega, 310

Ambergris
(AC), 47

Anger, Kenneth, 5, 10, 161, 224, 305, 321–22, 325, 327–28, 332–33, 343–44, 373n44

Ankh-F-N-Khnosu, 120

Archer, Ethel, 155–56;
The Hieroglyph
, 156

Argentium Astrum,
see
A...A...

Arnott, Jake, 322

Augustine, Saint, 117

Baker, Julian, 52–53, 58, 59, 61, 75

Baker, Phil, 372n25

Bamford, Christopher, 177

Bangs, Lester, 332

Barrie, J. M.,
Peter Pan
, 148

Barritt, Brian,
The Road to Excess
, 329

Barron, William George, 262

Barzun, Jacques, 119

Bass, Kasimira, 265, 267

Bataille, Georges, 13, 119, 185, 357n37

Baudelaire, Charles, 18

Baum, L. Frank, 307

Bax, Clifford, 143, 293, 312–13

Beardsley, Aubrey, 45, 117

Beatles, 11, 97, 325–27

Beaton, Mary, 86

Beats, 120, 324, 325, 332

Beausoleil, Bobby, 328, 333

Becker, Ernest, 40;
The Denial of Death
, 8

Bell, Clive, 96

Bennett, Allan, 61, 68–72, 76, 84, 86–90, 103, 129, 130, 132, 133, 143, 154, 167, 169, 173, 243, 355n12

Bennett, Arnold, 96, 121

Bennett, Frank, 232–34

Bennett, J. G., 276n21

Beresford, J. D., 240, 281

Bergier, Jacques,
The Morning of the Magicians
, 320–21, 335

Bergson, Henri, 64

Berlioz, Hector, 323

Bernard, Pierre Arnold, 275n94

Berridge, Dr., 168

Besant, Annie, 43, 259, 311

Bible, 22, 28, 30, 57, 106, 107, 113, 225, 312, 340; Genesis, 37, 90; Gospels, 114, 117; Luke, 56; Revelations, 26, 32, 336

Bickers, Betty, 242, 244

Binetti, Margaret, 263

Bishop, Tom, 29–32, 36, 41

Blackwood, Algernon, 147

Blake, Peter, 326, 327

Blake, William, 117, 141, 234;
The Marriage of Heaven and Hell
, 330

Blavatsky, Helena, 11, 25, 55, 59–60, 79, 86, 107–8, 133, 151, 176, 179, 262, 296, 319, 353n12, 359n6;
Isis Unveiled
, 62;
Secret Doctrine
, 264

Boer War, 140

Bond, Graham, 331, 337

Book Four
(AC), 88, 172–73, 264, 268, 361n8

Book of the Heart Girt with a Serpent, The
(AC), 145, 146

Book of the High Magick Art, The
(AC), 184

Book of Lapis Lazuli, The
(AC), 145, 146

Book of the Law, The
(AC), 9, 105–8, 111–14, 118, 120, 135, 137, 140, 154, 157–58, 179, 203, 224, 225, 236, 247, 254, 257, 261–63, 286–88, 293, 294, 317, 356n17, 364n47; German translation of, 262, 288

Book of Lies
(AC), 177, 362n22

Book of Thoth
(AC), 292, 299, 359

Booth, Martin, 245

Booth-Clibborn, Augustine, 238–39

Borges, Jorge Luis, 186

Bosse, Harriet, 358n55

Bottomley, Horatio, 163–64, 166, 220

Bowie, David, 5, 333–35

Boxer Rebellion, 131

Bradlaugh, Charles, 43

Brando, Marlon, 324

Brethren of the Free Spirit, 58

British Film Institute, 10

British Union of Fascists, 141

Brook, Peter, 298, 373n46

Brooksmith, Pearl, 282–86

Buddhism, 18, 49, 71, 88, 90, 97, 132, 135, 167, 169, 173, 194, 355n12

Budge, E. A. Wallis, 4

Bulwer-Lytton, Edward, 361n40

Burnett-Rae, Alan, 284–86

Burroughs, William, 332, 337, 345

Burton, Richard, 35, 42, 89

Busch, Bertha (Billie), 276–78

Butler, E. M.,
The Myth of the Magus
, 308

Butts, Mary, 235, 236, 238, 241, 242, 248, 368n37

Cagliostro, Alessandro, 215, 353n12, 374n72

Calder-Marshall, Arthur, 273, 290

Cameron, Marjorie, 305, 306

Cammell, Charles Richard, 198–99, 263, 294–96, 318–19, 349n1

Carlyle, Thomas, 42

Carpenter, Edward, 43;
From Adam’s Peak to Elephanta
, 98

Carter, Colonel, 271–72, 276, 278

Carus, Paul, 194, 199

Casement, Roger, 277

Cassady, Neal, 324

Castaneda, Carlos, 82

Catholicism, 145, 203

Cavendish, Richard, 326

Champney, H. d’Arcy, 28–29

Chéron, Jane, 183, 184, 221–22

Chesterton, G. K., 139

Chiswick Press, 239

Choronzon Club, 232

Christians, 18, 30, 43, 48, 114, 138, 139, 141, 145, 149, 175, 253, 281, 334, 338, 344, 356n16; fundamentalist, 336, 341, 345 (
see also
Plymouth Brethren); Gnostic (
see
Gnosticism)

Churchill, Winston, 15, 291, 292

Churchward, James, 334

Ciara, 343

Close, Herbert, 155

Clouds without Water
(AC), 142–43

Cobain, Kurt, 13

Coleridge, Samuel Taylor, 42, 110–11;
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
, 37

Collected Works
(AC), 8, 122, 139

College of Occult Science, 79

Collins, William, 240–41, 243, 251

Colquoun, Ithell, 284

Confessions
(AC), 4, 8, 11, 23, 25, 28, 32, 42, 45, 48, 55, 60, 93, 95, 102, 106, 130, 131, 135, 140, 144, 161, 173, 181, 196, 201, 231, 242, 243, 251, 254, 258, 272, 329, 350n20, 361n40

Constable and Co. publisher, 280–82

Coomaraswamy, Alice Ethel (Ratan Devi), 201–2, 365n30

Coomaraswamy, Ananada K., 87, 201–2

Corbin, Henry, 358n64

Cowie, George Macnie, 207, 219

Cremers, Vittoria, 178–79, 185, 186, 207

Crowley, Aleister: acolytes of (
see names of specific followers and students
); adolescence, 28–33; Asian travels, 87–90, 129–35, 146; biographers, 10–11, 19, 155 (
see also
Fuller, J.F.C.; King, Francis; Symonds, John); birth, 20, 21; at Boleskine, 73–74, 98–101, 121–23; childhood, 23–27, 42; children, 122, 129–32, 134–38, 142, 144, 153–54, 223, 226, 230, 231, 239–40, 283, 286, 311–12, 316, 369n17, 371n3, 372n23; counterculture interest in, 1–6, 11, 114, 320–31; death, 301, 314–18; education, 26–31, 33–34, 38, 40–43, 53, 60; egotism, 8–9, 12–13, 17–18, 164; in Egypt, 92–93, 102, 103–5, 120–21; expulsion from Italy, 36, 41, 55, 251; family background, 20–24; frog crucified by, 194–95, 204, 206; in Germany, 155, 274–78; health problems, 29, 52, 137, 219, 223; heroin addiction, 18, 36, 55, 117, 219, 221, 225, 237–38, 258, 299, 302, 313, 315, 317; infamy, 16–17, 149, 167–69; inheritance, 41, 71, 223; involvement in esoteric orders (
see
A...A...; Golden Dawn; Ordo Templi Orientis); Kennedy’s portrait of, 15–16, 209, 345–46; libel suit, 279–84, 311; magazine as magical legacy,
see
Equinox, The;
marriages (
see
Crowley, Rose; De Miramar, Maria Teresa Ferrari); in Mexico, 81–86, 157; mountaineering, 8, 25, 29, 34–35, 39, 51–52, 84–85, 90–93, 123–28, 159; in New York, 81, 189–93, 195–201, 208–19; last years, 7, 10, 298–314; in Paris, 93–98, 102, 121, 147–48, 169–70, 254–58; popular culture influenced by, 331–45; public performances of rituals by, 165–66, 180–87; Scarlet Women and, 26, 116–17, 186–88, 190, 210, 212, 224, 237, 263, 268, 282–83, 290, 364n2 (
see also
Crowley, Rose; De Miramar, Maria Teresa Ferrari; D’Este Sturges, Mary; Hirsig, Leah); sexual proclivities of, 7, 18, 19, 26, 29–32, 43–48, 71–72, 128–29, 142–43, 149–51, 155, 159–60, 167–69, 188–89, 201–2, 209–10, 222–23; Sicilian abbey of, 223–51; spiritual awakening and growth, 49–53, 160–62; works (
see titles of specific books
); during World War II, 290–92, 294–98

Crowley, Ann Léa (AC’s daughter; Poupée), 223, 226, 230

Crowley, Astarte (AC’s daughter), 231

Crowley, Ataturk (Randall Gair; AC’s son), 283, 286, 311–12, 316, 371n3, 372n23

Crowley, Edward (AC’s father), 23–25, 27, 106, 350n20

Crowley, Emily (née Bishop; AC’s mother), 24–25, 29, 31–34, 37, 41, 147, 167

Crowley, Lola Zaza (AC’s daughter), 138, 142, 144, 153–54, 239–40, 369n17

Crowley, Nuit Ma Ahathoor Hecate Sappho Jezebel Lilith (AC’s daughter), 122, 129–32, 134–37

Crowley, Rose (AC’s first wife), 64, 99–104, 107, 108, 116, 121, 122, 129–32, 134–38, 140, 142, 144, 147, 153, 171, 202, 210, 211, 239, 263, 283

Crusades, 176

Cunard, Nancy, 193, 296, 300