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The Strange Life of Aleister Crowley | Occultist, Mystic, or Madman?
Aleister Crowley was one of the most controversial figures of the 20th century—an occultist, writer, and self-proclaimed prophet who shocked the world with his beliefs and rituals. Called "The Great Beast 666," Crowley's life was filled with dark magick, secret societies, drug-fueled visions, and cryptic prophecies.
In this video, we explore:
Crowley’s early life and rebellion
His role in magical orders like the Golden Dawn
The creation of Thelema and the Book of the Law
His scandalous lifestyle and exiles
Lasting impact on pop culture, music, and occult traditions
If you're fascinated by secret histories, the occult, and bizarre real-life figures, this is a story you won't forget.
📺 Follow us on Dailymotion for more strange documentaries and deep dives into dark history.
Aleister Crowley was one of the most controversial figures of the 20th century—an occultist, writer, and self-proclaimed prophet who shocked the world with his beliefs and rituals. Called "The Great Beast 666," Crowley's life was filled with dark magick, secret societies, drug-fueled visions, and cryptic prophecies.
In this video, we explore:
Crowley’s early life and rebellion
His role in magical orders like the Golden Dawn
The creation of Thelema and the Book of the Law
His scandalous lifestyle and exiles
Lasting impact on pop culture, music, and occult traditions
If you're fascinated by secret histories, the occult, and bizarre real-life figures, this is a story you won't forget.
📺 Follow us on Dailymotion for more strange documentaries and deep dives into dark history.
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LearningTranscript
00:00He was called The Great Beast 666, a prophet to some, a heretic to others, and to many,
00:10the most wicked man in the world. This is the story of Alistair Crowley, poet, mountaineer,
00:19addict, occultist, sexual libertine, and self-proclaimed antichrist. Born in the Victorian
00:26era, yet somehow far ahead and far outside his time, Crowley built a legacy of scandal,
00:33mysticism, and myth that still haunts the modern world. His influence stretches from the occult
00:40underworld to rock and roll royalty. But who was he really? A genius? A lunatic? Or a man who dared to
00:51push the limits of society and self? In this deep dive, we're going beyond the headlines,
00:57rumors, and conspiracy theories. We're going to explore his early life, his spiritual awakening,
01:05the bizarre rituals he performed, the commune he founded, and the many ways his twisted mythos
01:11continues to shape our culture. Welcome to The Odd Index. What you're about to hear isn't just a
01:18biography. It's a descent into the mind of the man who believed himself to be the prophet of a new age.
01:24Chapter 1. The Birth of the Beast
01:27Edward Alexander Crowley was born on October 12, 1875, in Royal Leamington Spa, England. His family was
01:37wealthy, strict, and deeply religious. His father, Edward Crowley, was a preacher for the Plymouth Brethren,
01:45an ultra-conservative Christian sect. Crowley's mother started calling him The Beast after his
01:52father died, and Alistair began rebelling against his Christian upbringing. It's a nickname that would
01:58later become his identity. From an early age, Alistair rebelled. He despised his religious upbringing,
02:06resented the oppressive piety of his parents, and was especially disturbed by the idea of sin.
02:12He later wrote that he came to see Christianity as a poison, something that crippled the spirit.
02:19The death of his father when Alistair was 11 marked a turning point. He began to explore the idea that he
02:26could shape his own reality. He experimented with poetry and mountaineering. He learned multiple
02:32languages, including Greek and Latin. But most of all, he became obsessed with the esoteric.
02:38At Cambridge University, Crowley studied philosophy and was heavily involved in the chess club.
02:45Yet it was during these years that his dark fascination with mysticism took root.
02:50He explored alchemy, tarot, astrology, and the forbidden books of ancient magicians.
02:57It was also here that Edward Alexander Crowley renamed himself Alistair.
03:01He believed it better reflected his true magical nature. He wanted a name that would be uniquely
03:08his, and one that had power. Soon after, his quest for spiritual knowledge would lead him to one of
03:15the most secretive societies in the world, the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn.
03:21Chapter 2
03:22The Golden Dawn
03:24By the late 1890s, Alistair Crowley was no longer just a curious young man dabbling in mysticism.
03:32He was on a mission, to tear through the veil that separates the mundane from the divine.
03:39And it was in London that he discovered the doorway to a world of hidden knowledge,
03:44the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn.
03:47The Golden Dawn was more than a secret society.
03:49It was a hub of occult experimentation, attracting artists, intellectuals, and mystics of all kinds.
03:57Founded in 1888, it blended ceremonial magic, Hermetic Kabbalah, alchemy,
04:03Rosicrucianism, and elements of Eastern mysticism.
04:07It promised access to secret wisdom, wisdom that had supposedly been passed down since the days of
04:13ancient Egypt. For Crowley, this was heaven. He applied and was initiated
04:19into the Order in 1898. At first, he was just a neophyte,
04:26undergoing elaborate initiation rituals and memorizing complex magical systems.
04:31But Crowley was a fast learner, and dangerously ambitious.
04:36He quickly rose through the ranks. In the Golden Dawn, advancement came through
04:41mastering various magical grades, each representing a deeper understanding of mystical knowledge.
04:46Crowley consumed everything. The writings of Eliphaz Levi, the symbols of the Kabbalah,
04:53and the Enochian magic system of John Dee. He began conducting his own rituals,
04:59experimenting with summoning angels and demons, and invoking spirits using ancient languages
05:04and detailed sigils. His goal wasn't merely to observe the supernatural, but to control it.
05:11But not everyone in the Golden Dawn was thrilled with Crowley's presence. His open bisexuality,
05:18heavy drug use, and egotism made him a pariah among some of the more conservative members.
05:25Even W.B. Yeats, the famous Irish poet and an active member of the Order, despised him.
05:31Yeats allegedly referred to Crowley as a lout and a black magician. The feeling was mutual. The power
05:38struggle within the Golden Dawn soon reached a boiling point. Crowley aligned himself with one
05:45of the co-founders, Samuel Little McGregor Mathers, who had a falling out with the rest of the group's
05:49leadership. Mathers promoted Crowley rapidly, even granting him access to the inner order known as
05:56the Second Order, which many believed held the most powerful magical secrets. In 1900, the conflict
06:03erupted when Crowley attempted to forcibly take over the Golden Dawn's London Temple. Dressed in full
06:10Highland regalia and armed with a ceremonial dagger, Crowley tried to enter the temple to assert his
06:15authority. He was physically barred by other members and humiliated. This public failure marked the
06:22beginning of the end for his involvement with the Golden Dawn. But for Crowley, the rejection only
06:28fueled his conviction. If the Golden Dawn wouldn't recognize his power, he would build his own magical
06:34empire. He began developing his own system of ceremonial magic, drawing from what he'd learned
06:39in the Golden Dawn, but also injecting his own personal experiences, interpretations, and beliefs.
06:46He believed magic should not be bound by dusty traditions or secrecy. For him, it was about will,
06:52pure, unfiltered, and divine. This belief would soon crystallize into what he called
06:59magic with a K, to distinguish it from mere stage illusions. In his book, Magic in Theory and Practice,
07:08Crowley defined it as the science and art of causing change to occur in conformity with will.
07:13It wasn't just about casting spells. It was about shaping the world according to one's true self.
07:18And to do that, one had to discover one's true will, a kind of spiritual DNA that defined your unique destiny.
07:27Crowley believed most people lived enslaved by social expectations, religious dogma, and personal weakness.
07:33True magic meant breaking free, and that required rituals, symbolism, discipline, and sometimes total destruction
07:39of one's former self. His early experiments with invocation, meditation, and visualization
07:45evolved into complex ceremonies involving sex, blood, and psychedelic substances.
07:51While others in the occult world whispered about power, Crowley shouted it into the abyss.
07:57He began working with spirits he believed were ancient intelligences, gods, angels, and daemons.
08:04One of the first major rituals he undertook was the Abramelin Operation,
08:08a six-month rite meant to contact one's holy guardian angel.
08:11He performed it in a rented house near Loch Ness in Scotland.
08:16But he didn't finish it.
08:18He was distracted by women, mountaineering, and other magical pursuits.
08:24Some occultists believe that abandoning the Abramelin ritual prematurely
08:28opened him up to chaotic spiritual forces that haunted him the rest of his life.
08:33Still, he pushed forward.
08:35From this point on, Crowley began signing his letters and writings with various esoteric titles.
08:42The Great Beast, 666, to Megatherion, and Fraterpurdurabo, meaning,
08:47I shall endure to the end.
08:49And endure, he did.
08:51Despite exile from the Golden Dawn, criticism from the press, and alienation from the British elite,
08:57Crowley pressed deeper into occult territory than anyone before him.
09:00What began in secret temples was now becoming something much larger.
09:05A new religion.
09:06A cosmic revelation.
09:08And in 1904, he claimed to receive it,
09:12not from a priest or a prophet,
09:14but from a disembodied voice that spoke to him across the veil of time.
09:19That voice would tell him to abandon everything he thought he knew.
09:23That the old gods were dead.
09:25That a new aeon was beginning.
09:26That he, Alistair Crowley, was its prophet.
09:31The Golden Dawn may have rejected him,
09:33but Crowley had unlocked something even greater.
09:36The power to rewrite reality itself.
09:39And soon, he would write the book that would define him,
09:43and damn him, for eternity.
09:45Chapter 3
09:45The Book of the Law
09:47In 1904, Alistair Crowley traveled to Cairo, Egypt,
09:52with his wife, Rose Edith Kelly.
09:54What was meant to be a honeymoon soon spiraled into one of the strangest paranormal events in modern history.
10:02This is where the Book of the Law,
10:04the sacred text of a new religion, would be born.
10:08It began with Rose entering trances and telling Crowley that
10:11they were waiting for him.
10:15Who were they?
10:16Spirits?
10:17Gods?
10:18Ancient intelligences?
10:20Crowley wasn't sure.
10:21But Rose insisted that he make contact.
10:25She led him to the Egyptian god Horus,
10:27or more precisely,
10:28to a specific steli in the Cairo Museum.
10:31Steli 666.
10:33A coincidence, maybe.
10:34But for Crowley, it was fate.
10:37On April 8th, 9th, and 10th of that year,
10:40at exactly noon,
10:42Crowley sat down in his hotel room with a pen and paper.
10:44What happened next, he claimed, was pure transmission.
10:49A voice, not his own,
10:50spoke from the corner of the room.
10:52It called itself Iwas.
10:55This being dictated the text
10:56that would become known as Liber al Vel Legis,
11:00or the Book of the Law.
11:02The central message,
11:04Do what thou wilt,
11:05shall be the whole of the law.
11:07This was the foundation of a new era,
11:09the Aeon of Horus.
11:10According to Crowley,
11:13humanity had passed through two previous eons.
11:16The Aeon of Isis,
11:18marked by nature and goddess worship,
11:20and the Aeon of Osiris,
11:21dominated by patriarchy, guilt,
11:23and sacrificial religion.
11:26Now came Horus,
11:27the child god,
11:28symbolizing individualism,
11:30rebellion,
11:31and the dawn of a new spiritual consciousness.
11:34It sounded revolutionary,
11:36but it also sounded dangerous.
11:38Crowley didn't write the Book of the Law.
11:40He received it.
11:41Or so he said.
11:43And yet,
11:44even he didn't understand it fully at first.
11:47He actually set it aside for years,
11:49unsure what to make of its cryptic verses,
11:52violent imagery,
11:53and godlike commands.
11:55Only later would he realize,
11:57this book was meant to reshape not only his life,
12:00but the destiny of the world.
12:02This marked the birth of Thelema,
12:04a spiritual system that blends
12:06Eastern mysticism,
12:07Western esotericism,
12:09and raw,
12:10unapologetic self-determination.
12:12Its core idea?
12:14Every person has a true will,
12:16a divine purpose or path
12:18that they must discover and follow,
12:20no matter how chaotic,
12:22carnal,
12:22or controversial it may be.
12:24Crowley saw himself not just as a magician anymore,
12:27but as a prophet,
12:28a new Moses,
12:30a new Muhammad,
12:30except this prophet wasn't preaching peace.
12:33He was preaching liberation through will,
12:36through power,
12:37through breaking the chains of conformity and fear.
12:40From then on,
12:41Crowley styled himself as the high priest of Thelema.
12:44He republished the book of the law,
12:47penned commentaries on it,
12:48and began crafting a religion around its ideas.
12:51He built rituals,
12:53wrote poetry,
12:54and developed magical practices
12:56designed to help followers awaken to their own true wills.
12:59One of the strangest aspects of the book?
13:03It predicted war.
13:05Global war.
13:08In passages that some later interpreted as eerily prophetic,
13:13it described the destruction of the old order
13:15and the rise of chaos.
13:18And what came just ten years later?
13:21World War I.
13:22But for Crowley,
13:23this wasn't tragedy.
13:25It was confirmation.
13:27The Aeon of Horus had arrived.
13:28The old gods were dying.
13:31The new world was being born in fire.
13:33He wrote,
13:35The slaves shall serve.
13:38This wasn't just philosophy.
13:39It was a cosmic sorting.
13:41Crowley believed that those who failed to discover their true will
13:44were spiritual slaves.
13:47Only those who embraced the law of Thelema would rise.
13:51Needless to say,
13:52this philosophy didn't sit well with the mainstream.
13:54In an era where church and empire still held sway,
13:59Crowley's message of self-deification
14:01sounded like madness.
14:03Or blasphemy.
14:04Or both.
14:06But the oddest thing?
14:07Crowley didn't seem to care.
14:10He embraced the role of heretic.
14:12Of monster.
14:13Of myth.
14:14He wanted the world to either kneel or recoil.
14:17And in the decades that followed,
14:20he would work tirelessly to make Thelema not just a footnote in history,
14:24but a living, breathing system of magic and meaning.
14:27Chapter 4.
14:28The Abbey of Thelema.
14:30After proclaiming the dawn of a new Aeon,
14:33Alistair Crowley knew he needed more than books and rituals.
14:36He needed a temple,
14:38a real-world nexus of magic, philosophy, and experience.
14:41In 1920, he found it on the sun-soaked island of Sicily,
14:47in the small coastal town of Cephalou.
14:49There, he established what would become
14:51one of the most controversial spiritual communes in modern history,
14:56the Abbey of Thelema.
14:58The name echoed both the sacred and the rebellious.
15:02Inspired by Rabelais' fictional abbey in Gargantua and Pantagruel,
15:06Crowley envisioned a community where residents lived only by one rule.
15:12Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law.
15:15No hierarchy.
15:17No oppression.
15:18Just freedom.
15:19Absolute and terrifying.
15:21But this wasn't a summer retreat.
15:24The Abbey was a run-down villa,
15:26more ruin than residence.
15:28Inside, Crowley painted the walls with erotic murals,
15:32Egyptian gods, demonic figures, and cryptic symbols.
15:36Ritual chambers were decorated with blood-red curtains,
15:38mirrors, and magical tools.
15:40The place looked like the fever dream of a Victorian occultist,
15:43which is exactly what it was.
15:45The residence?
15:46A rotating cast of devoted followers,
15:49lost souls, artists, and seekers of the forbidden.
15:52Crowley functioned as high priest, guru, and psychological experimenter.
15:57Days at the Abbey were filled with meditation,
16:00chanting, sex magic rituals, drug use, and writing.
16:03Crowley called it a spiritual laboratory,
16:05but many called it a cult.
16:07Crowley's methods were extreme.
16:09He pushed his followers to the edge,
16:11physically, emotionally, spiritually.
16:13He believed that only by confronting and annihilating your ego
16:17could you truly discover your true will.
16:19That meant confronting fear, shame, lust, addiction, and sometimes madness.
16:24He encouraged sexual rituals.
16:26He used drugs as sacraments.
16:28He believed in sacred transgression,
16:30the idea that spiritual growth required tearing down all conventional boundaries.
16:36One of the most infamous events involved a young Englishman named Raoul Loveday.
16:41A devoted follower, Loveday took part in many of the Abbey's rituals.
16:46But in 1923, he suddenly fell ill.
16:50Reportedly, after drinking from a contaminated stream near the property,
16:53others claimed it was from a bizarre ritual involving the consumption of cat's blood.
16:59He died shortly after.
17:01His wife, Betty May, known as a bohemian socialite in London,
17:05returned to England and went straight to the press.
17:08Her sensationalist accounts of orgies, black magic, and animal sacrifice
17:13exploded across British tabloids.
17:15Headlines branded Crowley the wickedest man in the world,
17:19and the British government took notice.
17:20Mussolini's regime, under pressure from the British and uneasy about the Abbey's strange
17:26reputation, expelled Crowley from Italy.
17:30The Abbey was shut down.
17:32Its walls, still stained with ritual and excess, were abandoned to decay.
17:38But Crowley's exile didn't break him.
17:41If anything, it confirmed his belief that the old world was terrified of the new truths
17:47he was bringing into it.
17:49In a bizarre way, the Abbey had fulfilled its purpose.
17:54It was never meant to last.
17:56It was a crucible, a place of transformation, trauma, and revelation.
18:02Crowley believed the seeds of Thelema had been sown.
18:05And yet, as his physical health began to decline and his financial situation worsened,
18:11Crowley's influence began to shift from the world of ritual to the world of legend.
18:16In the decades to come, whispers of what happened at the Abbey would grow into full-blown myths.
18:24Some claimed dark spirits still haunted the site.
18:28Others said Crowley had opened portals that could never be closed.
18:33Whatever the truth, the Abbey of Thelema became a symbol,
18:37not just of Crowley's ambition, but of the razor-thin line between spiritual enlightenment and personal madness.
18:44Chapter 5.
18:45Crowley's End
18:46By the mid-1920s, the Great Beast was worn thin.
18:50Decades of transgression, travel, scandal, and ritual had taken a toll.
18:55Crowley, once the stormbringer of spiritual revolution, was now drifting,
19:00financially broken, and physically ravaged by drug addiction.
19:03His exile from Italy marked the beginning of a downward spiral.
19:07He wandered through France, Germany, and back to England.
19:09But the mystique that once drew followers was fading.
19:12Even his most devoted acolytes began to fall away.
19:16Many saw a man unraveling, his brilliance eroded by self-indulgence,
19:20his body frail, and his mind increasingly paranoid.
19:24Still, he kept writing.
19:26Books, letters, rants, and manifestos.
19:29He tried, and often failed, to launch new occult publications.
19:33He filed lawsuits.
19:35He raged against detractors.
19:37And he continued his magical work, despite the chaos closing in.
19:41Heroin became his daily companion.
19:43Originally used for his asthma, it quickly turned into a crippling addiction.
19:48At times, he was penniless, surviving on donations from a shrinking group of Thelemite loyalists.
19:53He lived in cheap hotels, took handouts, and occasionally moved in with admirers willing to house a living legend.
20:01But even in this slow collapse, Crowley's myth was curdling into something darker, something enduring.
20:07Stories began to spread.
20:08That he summoned demons.
20:10That he killed with curses.
20:11That he could astrally project or cause madness in rivals.
20:15Truth and fiction blurred until they were indistinguishable.
20:18In 1947, Alistair Crowley died in a boarding house in Hastings, England.
20:24He was 72.
20:25His last words, reportedly, were,
20:29I am perplexed.
20:30His funeral was tiny, but theatrical.
20:33A Thelemic ritual was read aloud, full of esoteric verses and occult affirmations.
20:39The tabloids called it a Black Mass.
20:42But Crowley's influence didn't die.
20:44If anything, it metastasized.
20:46In the decades after his death, he became a symbol of counterculture rebellion.
20:51Occult shops sold his books to new generations of seekers and stoners.
20:56Artists and rock stars found inspiration in his forbidden philosophy.
21:00Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page bought Crowley's former estate, Bullskin House, on the shores of Loch Ness.
21:07David Bowie referenced him in lyrics.
21:10So did Ozzy Osbourne.
21:12Even the Beatles placed his image on the cover of Sergeant.
21:14Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club band.
21:17Why?
21:18Because Crowley wasn't just a man.
21:20He was an archetype.
21:21The occult rebel.
21:23The trickster prophet.
21:24The embodiment of everything polite society fears.
21:28And secretly desires.
21:31In today's world, his teachings still ripple through New Age circles, chaos magic, conspiracy theories,
21:37and internet occult forums.
21:40The Lima, his spiritual system, survives as both a religion and a philosophical experiment.
21:46A drawing he did of a being he claimed to have communicated with, named Lam, might even look familiar to many.
21:53And yet, no one has ever fully decoded him.
21:56Was he a madman or a misunderstood mystic?
22:00A predator or a prophet?
22:02Was the book of the law truly a transmission from beyond?
22:06Or a brilliant piece of subconscious theater?
22:09That's the paradox of Alistair Crowley.
22:14He remains, like all great enigmas, not something to be solved, but something to be experienced.
22:20He called himself the Beast, but he also gave voice to the buried parts of the human soul.
22:25The dark.
22:26The ecstatic.
22:28The lawless.
22:29And in doing so, he made himself immortal.
22:32Not in body, but in myth.
22:34Chapter 6.
22:35The Crowley Legacy Alistair
22:37Crowley died in 1947, but his spirit never truly left the world.
22:43Instead, it seeped deep into the veins of counterculture, chaos magic, and even mainstream pop culture,
22:50often lurking just beneath the surface, like an occult ghost in the machine.
22:54You might not realize it, but Crowley's fingerprints are everywhere.
22:58From the pages of tattooed skin to the lyrics of some of the most iconic rock songs ever recorded.
23:05Take Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin, a devoted Crowley fan.
23:09He bought Crowley's infamous bullskin house on the shores of Loch Ness,
23:14a place rumored to be a vortex of paranormal energy.
23:18Page was said to conduct magical rituals there,
23:21and his guitar work often echoed the dark, mystical themes Crowley worshipped.
23:26And it didn't stop there.
23:28David Bowie wove Crowley's mysticism into his stage personas.
23:33Ozzy Osbourne, the Prince of Darkness,
23:36drew inspiration from Crowley's theatrical darkness and taboo breaking attitudes.
23:41The Beatles, their legendary sergeant.
23:43Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band cover famously features Crowley's image,
23:47lurking among the weird and wonderful.
23:49But Crowley's legacy is bigger than rock stars and weird album art.
23:53In the 1970s and beyond, Crowley became a symbolic figurehead for chaos magic,
23:59a modern occult practice that strips ritual down to its bare essentials,
24:04intent, belief, and the power of will.
24:07Chaos magicians often cite Crowley as a key influence,
24:11mixing his Thelemic philosophy with their own experimental magic.
24:15And then, there's the internet.
24:18Today, Crowley's writings, rituals, and myths are freely available to millions worldwide.
24:23Online occult forums dissect his works,
24:26meme his notorious quotes,
24:27and build digital temples dedicated to Thelema.
24:30His image is an emblem of rebellion,
24:33not just against religion,
24:34but against the very idea of authority.
24:36Crowley was the original counterculture icon,
24:39the patron saint of those who challenge the rules and chase forbidden knowledge.
24:43But here's the twist.
24:44Despite the cult-like following and cultural infiltration,
24:48Crowley remains wildly misunderstood.
24:52Scholars debate whether he was a serious mystic or a showman,
24:56a charlatan or a visionary.
24:59His writings are cryptic, often contradictory.
25:03His life story is a mess of excess and brilliance.
25:06And yet, that messy complexity is exactly why people are still obsessed with him.
25:13In many ways, Aleister Crowley embodies a timeless paradox.
25:19The urge to break free from the cage of social norms,
25:22balanced against the chaos such freedom invites.
25:25Whether you see him as a villain, a hero, or something in between,
25:29one thing's clear, Crowley's shadow still stretches long over our culture.
25:33So next time you hear a haunting guitar riff or see a strange symbol glowing in the night,
25:39remember, the beast lives on, not in flesh, but in the spirit of rebellion and mystery.
25:45Thanks for watching this deep dive into the life and legacy of Aleister Crowley.
25:52If you enjoyed this, hit like and subscribe and comment with what you'd like to see the next deep dive look into.
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