= ro ‘THE CONFESSIONS OF ALEISTER CROWLEY Alter Crowle, who cla him dhe Beat, was one ofthe most ‘xtaorinary ponents of modem dmce~ nove, pot magic, 2 ‘omplibed mouniner, chew maser and founder ofan abbey of Do What “Thou Wilk. To he follower he war the creor af «new region clled CGrowleyany. He was born i 173, the on of «brewer nd evangeiing Phymouth Brahe. By theme o hit death a 1947 cater ad wring tn cut, pycology and sx had become egdary. Hla bs known ‘work af hie Cafuint nd i rest bok on mai, Map Jobm Symonds met Aleiter Crowley in 194s and eld hr with i Terry work during the lt two yar a hi i. He Crowley's leary recor and the author of ik biography, The King of the Shab Rel Xemeth Grant said te oeultunder Aleter Crowky. His books ioe shade The Magia! Reval liter Cry and he Hides God, Cals the ‘Shade, Nigh of Een ac Oude he Cine of ime He aed te sonata, with John Symonds, Crowley's major wring, nding Mag (ns, Akane 98)‘An ened spore THE CONFESSIONS OF ALEISTER CROWLEY AN AUTOHAGIOGRAPHY cited by JOHN SYMONDS ond KENNETH GRANT ARKANA PENGUIN BOOKSantl error Pee aoe pet a enorme a a ieltomnck sme iva time seco at pinot Li, Rept Ofrenda Mie, Eg ‘Tome ton pb Rote & Kopin Pl 8 hy Corre oe Sond ad Kath Git 19,179 ‘gar ed Pet ahd by Ci La St pe pine Sino Ameri th ok abt ‘other rt al ty ay after ee sh rater Gat hans eros any rm nding aoe er a hte pubed ad wions an cnn ge “nton bang pod ath bgt pee CONTENTS PART ONE: Towards the Golden Dawn PART TWO: The Mystical Adventure PART THREE: The Advent of the Acon of Horus PART FOUR: Magical Workings PART FIVE: The Magus PART SIX: Atthe Abbey of Thelema 29 199 wer cn 92s 93916, Crowley and Alostracl (Leah Hing) atthe Abbey of ‘Thelema, 1931 enween pages 736-797 7a, Bety May 7b, Raoul Loveday (Frater Aud), 1923 the St by Croley of Norman Md Qtr Oui Po Veritate) 18h, Frank Bennet (Frater Progradiot) 19. Maia de Miramar and Crowley aoa, Sketch by Crowley of devouring demon enwees pages 768-769 20h, Crowley asa human being, 1934 214. Crowley 2s Foci, the Chinese god of joy and laughter arb. Crowley's hands locked in yogie mudea 32a, Sketch by Crowley sab, In Jermyn Steet, Picadlly, 1043 23a. At Netherwood’, Hastings gh. The Beast 666: vlfporait PREFACE Since the publication ofthis book ten years ago it has become evident chat Aleister Crossley was more thn jst another eule hero of our time CCrowley’slife was more fantastic even than that of Garde the only com potable pesomaliy among his contemporaies, whose unconventionsliies were mostly pased over in silence. Crowley's cccentrcts, however, have ben 10 much emphasized thatthe unique value of his work in every conceivable are of experimental oct has been obscured until recently Te is only during the st decade that Crovley’s ideas have taken wing in harmony with a vase new body of trata which fue science, Fantasy and retaphysice in a manner that may ulkimatly rei the wildest nightmares of an HP. Lovecraft. ‘Timothy Leary, for example, identifies himself so. entirely with the current initiated by Crowley, and the ‘coinidencer-sychronictes between ‘my life and his, that he considers one of his aims ro be the completion of the work of preparing the wold for coum consciousness, which Crowley had begun. As with Carls Castaneda another writer deeply concerned ‘with these maters~Leary’s breakthrough came through deugs, though these were Iter discarded by Castaneda 25 inessental to the opening ofthe higher centres. Crowley was, hoeever, the fit systematically to conrelte such sates of consciousness with various kinds of spiritual experience, a well, 8 to ciliate contact with exea-dmensionl entities A reviewer of the Cosson had pointed out in Life that ‘Crowley w 28 superior to today’s mindless cultists a Rabelais “Do What You Will isto ther “Do Your Own Thing” Crowley's Magik is considered by the caqnaceti to be the most compachensive book on the subject ever ‘writen, and the Confsons brings to life the man who wrote it ‘Many of the personales famous, infamous, or lite known ~ whose ‘meetings with Crowley ate hete described, have now been r-asesed, for Marie Dest’s "bra, who eransmogrifed into che film dicector Preston Sturges, to Somerset Maugham, who, after publication of his novel, The Magician, was rumoured to have sold bis soa co the devil in the Form of Aleistee Crowley inretue for world-wide fae. Crowley's ise biographer, ‘Major-General Faller, forsook the ‘Crowned and Conquering Child of the Seer eit ences atom ne rene ree‘Bok of the Law for Hilt, and quotes Hitler as saying «0 him on one ‘ccension: ‘hope you are pleted with your children, a reference toa vast patade of German tank, the brainchild of Fle’ latr theories, Hlorence Fatt, cnfde of Shaw and Yeats ended her days in Ceylon under the spiral guidance of Allan Benstt's mentor, Si Ramanachas snd Gerald Kelly, ‘pane, according eo the telephone directory’ was duly Tcnghted for his many portesits of toyaly. As for Crowley's pioneering attempts on the Himalsya peak Ka, i sorm fen” il elim vitims “The sods ofthe mos interesting speculations reparding the frure will be found in what Allan Watts ~ one ofa hundeed reviewers of the Coven ~ Ine called ‘thi huge volume which from beginning zo end is almost enicly Fscinaing, witey, artogant, immodest, and yet curiously wis London Kannan 1978 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS “The editors with to thank Me George H. Brook for generously ‘puting his collection of Crowleyana at cir dispel they are also gratefl to Mrs Norah Fitzgerald and Me Gerald Yorke for the oan of typescript and they are indcbred to Mrs Stefi Geant for her help sn prepating the index.4 isrropuetion perinet to tl us somthing of his grandpatsns, whom he sony [food to happened tat ts Gaker, Edward Crowe, whom heeled Sr capes, ars brewer, andthe faily frame cam fom “Crowley Aisa es which reg nto i sting py ins oblique wo. By th ie Acie was bon hs cer wat Wel advanced in mle age, and peat hs ine envling soot the county, pacing Myton {anyone who woold Ite to hin. The Pmouh Brat st as founded about 130 by Jin Neon Duby, ih clergy who was bare bef he wen int the Crh. The Brethren blved tha they terete ony tv Crit: they conidred thee of nde mines Tontey fo te thing of Scripts the Be was ay sc, Ch Sttond Coming waitin che Hc wuld inert the Kingdom of God ‘Out of hi ekground eneged Alter Crowley, he Be [Aint he wars devout ile Plymouth Bro, anges wih his patent andthe ranting pageiom th Bible Pinout wat Tec only eve fh, He could not, heal even conceive ofthe exten of peoplwho were flor wicked ato dosbet Ii hdhardurhe thought ofhinalf asa Christan knight, doing dees of olines ad aloo. ‘he grow ede biden ook nagetar: Head alway peered he sods ofthe Hebrew mane to the aca bial nate 3 ay ‘ctipdon of rma or Hood soe hi flings emendouly. He Med to mg hoa in agony and in prea, deeded by and sing 1 the nds of a woman whom he decribed a wiked independ fourageos, ambi, ands on Heflin lve withthe Fae Prop. the Bes whore number 66, and the Sealer Woman. And deny afer the death of there wa then ceven yen olde covered hat is ‘yiputis were ently on he sid ofthe eric of heaven, He ad gone rer Satan and didnot know why, He war al eathing forthe eon ‘then be came to wats atobiogaphy athe age of Freyseren. Growl was 1 contemporary of fread he grew out of thematic of Vir with iso ew oie word ands oleae of beauty tn f God, He wa on of many who bpd teat down the fi; bypo- Sie serge ands of the time Hs acon hil eo Fymouth Breen howstold so lox remake han Emmnd Go's * ‘What, however posi in Crowley’ cv not hat he cose ‘evi ut th in hs sve gun pret and God he st him op i Gos ie : “Why do you call yourself the Beast?’ I asked him on the occasion of our fi meng "yy mote led me the Bet he eid to my supe. He went Mave sid Tones pblicchock hiss broke down "ta me a Tonbridge, dv pry to having ‘caught the cap from pote in Glasgow (he wate in the margin of his own copy of The Wer’ Tragedy prety pblad, 1930 be Sit stem st stobogaphy He publaed iris bck of ene whe an undergrad Tiiy dallas A Plat Dry Stages nA Piped Poem. By © Gentman of he Unversity of Contig 198. Te eared ths ot prefce Fee ecw is re nro ste the stags diction be wet going Ie wat a windy nigh, hat ancmorable seventh night of December, iter ths Fiosphy was boen ime, How the gave od polit Tahara te kee es Serr endef mine lt range thooghs and emetic witha mc AK how Iaved! ed whim fo ample me, he would not. We aed togeicr ito the ormy night. Twat om honeback, how felloped round him in my pheeny, il he Bane che pey of eel epi ert How I sbiched ou ow not wat ernge wor! And {Be poor good a man ied lh cold to cal re: choght Twat Endl The fell Twas in he death srogge wis God od San foght fo my sol thee three long hous God conquered now Ihave nly one doubt efe— which ofthe tain was God? ‘Mountaineering was another of his pasons, He climbed in the Lake Distt, on Beachy Head and in Switerland; and he was a master of chat ‘eoterc game clled cheis—who can ever get tothe bottom of ches? bad played in ewo matches aguinst Oxford and won his chess hal-Ble. Hie had taken to wearing pure sil shirs and great loppy bow-Knoted tes; ‘on his fingers were rings of semi-precows stones. An atmosphere of luxury, stadiousnes and harsh effor petvaded his rooms at Cambridge. Books covered the wall tothe ering and filled four revolving walnat bookcases. ‘They were largely on science and philosophy, with 2 modest collection of GGreck and Latin clasics, anda mprinkling of French and Runian novel. On ‘one shelf shone the black and gold of The Arabian Nigh of Richard Burton; ‘below asthe fat eanvas and quate label of the Kelmscott Chaucer. Valuable firs editions ofthe Brith ports stood beside extravagantly bound volumes ‘sued by hidor Liseux. Over the door hung an ice-axe with wor-down spike and ragged shaft, and in the comer was a canvas bag containing = salmon rod, Leaded Staunton chessmen were in thir mahogany box upon 3 ‘ard-table scattered with poker chips ‘The ‘Gentleman of the Univesity of Cambridge’ was prolife: he had ‘quickly fllowed Acclioma with The Tale of Arch, then Jephihah, A ‘rage; the pseudonym was borrowed from Shelley, whose The Nei of Ati, x811, was by a Gentleman of the Univenty of Oxford, Daring