There are too many myths about Aleister Crowley to list them all or attempt to prove them false. We have, however, occasionally addressed some of the more persistent and troubling false rumors spread about Aleister Crowley. Here are ten such myths, including links to the stories where we have busted them.
10. Myth: Aleister Crowley was a black magician.
Few things could be further from the truth, and Aleister Crowley directly contradicts this myth.
“I have been accused of being a ‘black magician.’ No more foolish statement was ever made about me. I despise the thing to such an extent that I can hardly believe in the existence of people so debased and idiotic as to practice it.”
(Originally mentioned in our Guide to the Aleister Crowley 2012 Campaign Ad.)
9. Myth: Aleister Crowley advocated pedophilia.
Aleister Crowley was one of the strongest advocates for children’s rights of his time. He was against all forms of child abuse, and has said that if he were in political power, he’d have parents who bully their children arrested. Moreover, he was unequivocal that abuse of anyone’s rights is contrary to his religious philosophy of Thelema.
“… acts invasive of another individual’s equal rights are implicitly self-aggressions. … Such acts as rape, and the assault or seduction of infants, may therefore be justly regarded as offences against the Law of Liberty, and repressed in the interests of that Law.”
(Originally posted in our post, Pedophiles in Wales.)
8. Myth: Aleister Crowley died alone in poverty.
When Aleister Crowley died, he had regular visitors in his beautiful home on top of a hill, overlooking the chalk cliffs where he learned to climb as a young man. He lived in this home, called Netherwood, with a number of other intellectuals. He kept a strong-box full of cash under his bed — property of his Thelemic organization, Ordo Templi Orientis. That he never took any of this money, though he could have easily done so, attests to his lack of material need at the end of his life.
“…the beast [Aleister Crowley] remained in good spirits, enjoying the comings and goings of Aleister Ataturk and the other children, who adored him in turn. Crowley did, however, remain in bed. The day before he died, he talked calmly and at length with MacAlpine. The following day was a still one but at the moment of Crowley’s death, which came quietly, the curtains in his room were caught in a gust of wind and a peal of thunder was heard. ‘It was the gods greeting him’ said MacAlpine.”
(Originally mentioned in our post, Drugs and the Deathbed.)
7. Myth: Aleister Crowley advocated rape.
Of course not. Aleister Crowley upheld the rights of the individual. These rights do not extend to violating the rights of others. See the quote and link in #9 above, and here’s another one:
“To use legal or financial constraint to compel either abstention or submission, is entirely horrible, unnatural and absurd.”
(Originally quoted in our post, Pedophiles in Wales.)
6. Myth: Aleister Crowley was a drug addict and a failure.
Aleister Crowley’s novel, “Diary of a Drug Fiend” is a celebration of sacramental drug use and of overcoming addiction.
Aleister Crowley was prescribed heroin for his asthma, a common medical practice at the time, and he became addicted like anyone would. He later used heroin recreationally and sacramentally, as he did with many drugs including cocaine, hashish, ether, peyote, and pretty much anything that he could get his hands on to try. He was after all a scientist, trained as a chemist even, a mystic, and a psychonaut.What do you expect?
Crowley’s writing production never decreased as he got older, and in fact some of his best works (like The Book of Thoth and Magick Without Tears) were accomplished at the end of his life.
(We addressed this issue in our post, Drugs and the Deathbed.)
5. Myth: Aleister Crowley worked for the Nazis.
Aleister Crowley demonstrated that he was the first to publish a “V Sign,” and he claimed to have invented Churchill’s use of the gesture in WWII as a magical foil to the Nazis’ use of the swastika.
Learn more in our two posts concerning this subject, V for Victory and The Answer to 1984 is 666.
4. Myth: Aleister Crowley sacrificed male children.
In his book, Magick, Aleister Crowley referred to masturbation jokingly and dysphemistically as child sacrifice. See our post, Guide to the Aleister Crowley 2012 Campaign Ad, for more details.
According to Crowley’s diaries, he performed this “sacrifice” about 150 times per year from 1912-1928. That is a moderate amount of masturbation, but it would be an impossible number of murders which would make Aleister Crowley dozens of times more murderous than the infamous Countess Elizabeth Báthory.
3. Myth: Aleister Crowley was the wickedest man in the world.
The tabloid article which gave Crowley this title also accused him of passing out drugs which made a person “…capable of participating in practices which no normal person could conceive of, much less describe.” Wait, what??
Read all about this in our post, Guide to the AC2012 Campaign Ad.
2. Myth: Aleister Crowley was the father of Barbara Bush.
Snopes has yet to deal with this issue; in the meantime, please pass along this link: Crowley/Bush April Fool’s joke!
1. Myth: There’s nothing magical about a shark eating a sea-lion.
As it turns out, there actually is something magical about a shark eating a sea-lion.
“Magick is the Science and Art of causing Change to occur in conformity with Will. … Every intentional act is a Magickal act.”
Find out more about the shark and the sea lion in our post, Guide to the AC2012 Campaign Ad.
OK, so you claim that he’s referring to masturbation when he mentions child sacrifice. That may be true, but I don’t see any evidence provided to back up this claim. How do you know he’s talking about masturbation? Prove it.
Also, even if he was jokingly referring to masturbation, how in the hell would he expect people to figure that out, especially someone reading his book in the pre-internet age? If someone was reading the book decades ago, would he have had to be a member of a secret society in order to be let in on this alleged joke?
It’s plainly obvious to anyone who reads the chapter.
I agree, it is “plainly obvious”. Those who have actually read Crowley’s works know that he made little jokes about this all of the time in his writings. Often it was done for flair and the shock factor, but it was also done as a test for the readers. Those who are rational and capable of objectively investigating further into his works are rewarded with learning of the “jokes” and the understanding he imparted. Those who are not rational will see such writing and “jokes” as wicked and offensive, and they will fall for the trap.
“Therefore the kings of the earth shall be Kings for ever: the slaves shall serve.” – Liber AL vel Legis, 2:58.
For the highest spiritual wokings one must accordingly choose that victim which contains the greatests and purest force. a male child of perfect innocence and high intelligence is the most satisfactory and suitable victim
those magicians who object to the use of blood have endeavorued to replace it with incense. for such a purpose te incense of abramelin may be burnt in large quantities. dittany of crete is also a valuable medium. both these incense are very catholic in thier nature and suitable for any materializtion. but the bloody sacrifice though more dangerous is more efficacious and for nearly all purposes human sacrifice is the best
( the truly great magician will be albe touse his own blood or that of a disiple and that without sacrificing the physical life irrovacably. and eg is given in chapter 44 liber 33
there is a magical operation of maximum importance the Initiation of a New Aeon.
When it becomes necessary to utter a Word the whole Planet must be bathed in blood. Before man is ready to accept the lLaw of Thelema the Great war must be fought. This Bloody Sacrifice is the critical point of the World. Cermony of the Proclamation of Horus the Crowned and conquering Child as Lord of the Aeon
Frazer’s Golden Bough
The animal should be stabbed to the heart, or its throat severed, in either case by the knife. all other methods of kiliing are less efficacious even in the case of Crucifixion death is given by stabbing. one may remark that warm-blooed animals only are used as victims with two principle exception – the serpent in a very special ritual . the magical beetlesof liber legis
Yet this shoud not be forgotten that this and that other art at which we have dareddarkly to hint are the sumpreme forumulae of Practical Magick.
Chapter X!!
Magick in Theory and Practice by Aleister Crowley
raumfahrer.wordpress.com/
The first two paragraphs you quote, Crowley is writing about masturbation.
In the third, he prophesied the great wars.
The difference between you and the creator of this blog is that we have read Crowley’s writings.
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None of those so-called myths have ever existed. I suspect this is a dis-information website, and that you are in fact, a fundamentalist Christian.
That’s funny. In fact all of these myths are prevalent on the Internet, and you can find many examples using teh Google.
I’ve always known or suspected much of the rumors and myths were just fallacies, just read his confessions, a very large book sometimes dry, and his other writings. It is all right there. I love the myths though, makes for great entertainment.
you should take down this site you fucking fool
Why would we do that? We have about 5 more posts drafted and more model photography on the way. Also, many thousands of people around the world (including mainstream print and televised media) have found a lot of interesting information here about Aleister Crowley and Thelema. We’re not about to remove such a valuable resource from the Internet.
Is that how your church taught you to speak?
happily we need no church to teach us anything. the Law of Liberty is an inherent calling that demands only honesty and courage you might want to look those words up and while you are at it you may want to explore the idea of a narrow minded fear based guilt complex as well….
Richard, there is no reason to think that the person who said we should take this site down is a Thelemite.
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You are entirely inncorrect. Did you even look into your facts?
Response to Myth 10 :
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0877289190
Crowley wrote many books and papers about black magick and the occult. Above is just one example.
Some quotes and sources:
“That religion they call Christianity; the devil they honor they call God. I accept these definitions, as a poet must do, if he is to be at all intelligible to his age, and it is their God and their religion that I HATE and will DESTROY.” (Aleister Crowley, The World’s Tragedy, p. XXXI)
“I simply went over to Satan’s side; and to this hour I cannot tell why. But I found myself passionately eager to serve my new master. . . I was not content to believe in a personal devil and serve him, in the ordinary sense of the word. I wanted to get hold of him personally and become his chief of staff.” (Aleister Crowley, The Confessions of Aleister Crowley, p. 67)
“For the highest spiritual working one must according choose that victim which contains the greatest and purest force [ed. such as a child]. A male child of perfect innocence and high intelligence is the most satisfactory and suitable victim. . . But the bloody sacrifice, though more dangerous, is more efficacious: and for nearly all purposes human sacrifice is the best”. (Aleister Crowley, Magick: Liber ABA, book four, parts I-IV, part Three-Magick in Theory and Practice, 1994 Ordo Templi Orientis edition, pp. 207, 208)
“Did you even look into your facts?”
How droll. Do please read the post to which you are responding before you start foaming at the mouth and hatefully attacking western civilization’s greatest philosopher in the last 12,000 years.
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I truly enjoy “dsyphemistically”…a previously unheard word….thanks….
And as far as Crowliana rumours go, he was rather staunch in allowing the press to hang themselves without responding/reacting….
Are there campaign items available?….seems like it’s time to vote….
Thanks! Yes, you can get t-shirts, yard signs and more. Check the links at the top of the site to get to our shop.
Number 7 doesn’t make sense. “Legal and Financial Restraint” doesn’t equate to the physical and/or psychological restraint it takes to rape someone. I am sure you can come up with something better, yes?
This is only one of many quotations from Aleister Crowley which make it plain that coercive sex is contrary to the philosophy of Thelema. If financial and legal coercion are deemed horrible, you can imagine how much more so violent coercion would be considered by Aleister Crowley. Nevertheless, you’ll notice that the quote to which you refer links to an entire blog post where this topic is discussed in greater detail. In the article linked from this quote, you’ll find another quotation which directly addresses the issue of rape, along with much more info.
I really enjoyed reading the top ten myths, I didn’t know about Barbara Bush. Lol
Crowley is a genius
Very nice.
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I like your site, but all that the swag you are selling is a bit much no?
Crowley Xmas crap and coffee mugs are you sure?
We make those available to people who want them. We also make the images available so people can make their own. If you don’t want swag, don’t make or buy it! Why would you begrudge those who do? We suggest you observe the niyama of Thelema and “mind thine own business.”
Oh, snap! LOL.
“Crowley myths that are true”? If they’re myths by definition they aint true! Oh wait, that IS magick!
Perhaps “legends” would be a better word to use when we make that post, but then again, you make a good point about magick!
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Fantastic, well done ~93~
Thanks!
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“In his book, Magick, Aleister Crowley referred to masturbation jokingly and dysphemistically as child sacrifice.”
In other words, Crowley was trolling, and people fall for it to this day. :)
Yes, that too! The funniest part though, is that customs allowed it, but they burned his books that discussed sex openly!
Thanks much for your comment, by the way. Excellent observation :-)
93. How about a top-ten list about Crowley myths that are true? 93 93/93
Good idea! It sounds like you might have some specific thoughts to this end? if so, please share!
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