Psilocyber wrote:


Not really an organisation, institute or tradition, but the influence of Aleister Crowley (1875-1947) on western esotericism is so big that I can't do this section without an article about this English occultist.

Crowley was born in 1875 in England as Edward Alexander Crowley. However he has wealthy parents he dispised his family and even as a youth he named himself Aleister to avoid having the same name as his father (who died when Aleister was 11).

After a rebellious youth he went to study on the Cambridge University, studying Alpine climbing while his spare time was filled with sexual experiments with members of both sexes. But since his interests went further, he soon started to search for knowledge on the fields of esotericism and magic. At the age of 23 he joined the Hermetic Order Of The Golden Dawn that was led by Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers (1854-1918) at that time (1898). The Golden Dawn has had and still has a big influence on occultism in the west and both in Crowley's time as today quite some famous people are in their ranks. The Golden Dawn works on the fields of kabbalah, tarot, alchemy, Masonry, Rosicrucianity, astrology, numerology, divination all brought together in a ritualistic magical system.
Crowley proved a rapidly raising star in the Golden Dawn's grade system, but also he raised dissension in the organisation, which even resulted in Mathers being kicked out, while Crowley was allowed to stay, for a short while...

After being expelled Crowley started to travel around the world. In Egypt he had his first encounter with Aiwass, the "holy guardian angel" that would dictate Crowley some books, such as the Book Of The Law. Then even Crowley's wife Rose Edith Kelly (1874-1932) suddenly got clairvoyant as well. In his enthousiasm Crowley contacted Mathers, but instead of being enthousiastic as well, Mathers tried to kill Crowley using occult matters. After this collision, Crowley lost his interest in magic and the occult and went to the Himalayas.

After rediscovering the Book Of The Law Crowley started new occult experiments and also founded his own organisation being Argenteum Astrum, The Order Of The Silver Star or A:.A:. in 1907. Two years later Crowley started his own periodical called "Equinox" that has only had four issues.

Also in 1909 Crowley divorced his wife because of her alcoholism. After this his life went in the ways that brought him the nickname "the most evil man in history" or "the great beast". No longer bounded by the restrictions of mariage, Crowley surrendered himself to a life of magick, drugs and most of all sex.

Another collision with fellow-occultists came when the German magical order Ordo Templi Orientis (the order of the templars of the east/orient) accused Crowley of revealing one of their initiation secrets. During the conversation between the leader of the OTO and Crowley they found out that both came to the practice of sex- magic in different ways, but the approaches were so alike, that Crowley joined the OTO and already after two years (1912) became head of the English section of the order.

After this things were silent around Crowley for quite a while, but his bad publicity remained. This didn't get any better when during WWI Crowley spent his time in the USA printing anti-English and pro-German manuscripts, which he said were meant ironically. Crowley also found himself a new soulmate in the form of Leah Hirsig (1883 – 1951) and they got a daugther that they named Poupee.

In 1920 Crowley was back in Europe and founded his "Abby of Thelema" in Sicily, Italy. This wasn't really a spiritual place. Crowley and Hirsig tried to overcome their chronical addiction to both cocaine and herion, their daughter died, Raoul Loveday (1900-1923) Crowley's closest helper also died (of drinking the blood of a cat) and Loveday's wife caused a scandal when she sold her story to the press in England. This was the start of stories about satanic sex rituals, drug abuse, black magic and the like. When Benito Mussolini (1883-1945) came to power in Italy he rapidly had this scandalous magician kicked out (1923).

In the OTO Crowley still had a lot of respect and in 1925 he became international leader of the order. This didn't help much in his search for a publisher to release his writings or to overcome his addiction to drugs. Both his name, fame and health kept going downwards until Crowley died in 1947, still having reached a respectable age of 72.



Thelema "is Greek for "The Will". Crowley used the word Thelema to represent his most important concept, the statement "Do As Thou Wilt Shall Be The Whole Of The Law". Crowley's entire religion, (Crowleyanity as it sometimes referred to by some cynical authors) liberally mixes elements of Christianity, Gnosticism and the Masons into its magickal rituals. It's hard to conceive how mildly Crowley and his followers would have been received if they were judged according to our contemporary standards. Thelemites, those who follow the laws of Thelema, often greet one another with the shorthand "93", which is the numerical value of the phrase "Love Is The Law, Love Under Will", the proper response to the "Do As Thou Wilt..." phrase."

This article is mostly based on the biography on popsubculture.com. This is a very usefull and informative page that I advice you to check out if you want to learn more.

Organisations

The Golden Dawn is the Hermetic order that was founded in 1887 by William Westcott (1848-1925), but really got his name with the earlier mentioned S.L. MacGregor Mathers became leader. Shortly after Crowley joined the order Mathers was kicked out and after Crowley was kicked out as well, the original order soon ceased to exist. It was a magical order with a lot of stress on rituals.

Argenteum Astrum (A:.A:. or "the order of the silver star") was founded by Crowley himself in 1904. Is was so to say a better version of the Golden Dawn. I could find no official or even descent webpage.

The Ordo Templi Orientis was most likely founded by Karl Kellner (1851-1905), but some say by his follower Theodor Reuss (1855-1923) as an offspring of the Masonic movement of that time. Masonry was merely a basis for an own system of this initiation movement. There are grades, rituals, magic in involved. Like any occult order, the OTO had a difficult time during the reign of the nazis, but also different ideas of different leaders brought raising and dropping amounts of members. The order still excists and claims to have about 3500 members worldwide.

Thelema: "The religion known as Thelema was founded in 1904 by the English poet and mystic Aleister Crowley, who is regarded as its prophet. Those who follow the path of Thelema, - the Greek word for "Will" -, are called Thelemites."


As far as I know, these are the only organisations Crowley has been involved in. Based on Crowley's ideas there are numerous organisations nowadays. I will speak about the most important.

Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica: "or the Gnostic Catholic Church, is the ecclesiastical aspect of Ordo Templi Orientis", "a Thelemic religious movement", so based on the religion founded by the prophet Aleister Crowley. The organisation works completely with masses, baptism and rites.

Hermetic Order Of The Golden Dawn is the acclaimed continuation of the original Golden Dawn

Ordo Rosae Rubeae et Aureae Crucis (R.R. et A.C.) part of the current Golden Dawn

Chaos Magic and the Illuminates of Thanateros (IOT) was founded in 1976 and concentrates on Crowley's "chaos magick".

the order of the thelemic golden dawn is a recent a totally Crowlegian order

The College/Temple Of Thelema is a relatively recent order based on Crowley's ideas.

The Hermetic Alchemical Order Of The QBLH also a fairly recent order that as the name suggests puts a lot of stress on Crowley's version of the Kabbalah, which is usually written as "Qabalah".

Hermetic Fellowship is -as the name suggests- a Hermetic organisation, founded in 1995 and based on original Rosicrucianism, but also with Kabbalistic/Qabalistic, Crowlegian and other influences .

Hermetic Order Of The Trice-Greatest Hermes was founded in 1990 as a Crowlegian Hermetic group with a temple and a journal. Nowadays it is more a slumbering organisation or actually only a journal.

Lux Occulta is -as it seems- only a Freemasonry internetpage based on Crowley

Golden Dawn Occult Society "a freestyle ritual group whose name is inspired by the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, the celebrated occult society that flourished at the end of the last century. The magick we practice is a modern equivalent of the old Hermetic Order of the GD system."

The Kaula-Nath Community "(including AMOOKOS) East-West tantrik groups, founded by Dadaji, one of Crowley's disciple's in the 1930s who, on the master's advice, went to India and became a sadhu. A unique blend of western occultism with authentic magical Hinduism. Has an older equivalent of Crowley's 'Law of Thelema' - viz: svecchacara - 'the path of ones own will'.
C/O PO Box 250, Oxford, OX1 1AP".