# Aleister Crowley

> English occultist (1875–1947)

**Wikidata**: [Q172684](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q172684)  
**Wikipedia**: [English](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleister_Crowley)  
**Source**: https://4ort.xyz/entity/aleister-crowley

## Summary
Aleister Crowley (1875–1947) was an English occultist best known for developing the occult philosophy called Thelema and for authoring The Book of the Law (1904). He was an influential writer and ceremonial magician associated with several occult orders and institutions.

## Biography
- Born: 1875 (exact date and place not provided in source material)
- Nationality: United Kingdom (English)
- Education: Tonbridge School; Malvern College; Trinity College (University of Cambridge)
- Known for: Developing the occult philosophy Thelema (inception 1904) and authoring The Book of the Law (1904)
- Employer(s): Affiliated with Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn; Ordo Templi Orientis; A∴A∴; Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica; Abbey of Thelema (Cefalù); freemasonry (as an affiliation listed)
- Field(s): Occultism; ceremonial magic; writing (playwright, novelist, autobiographer); astrology; mountaineering; chess (player and chess composer); founding and leading occult organizations

## Contributions
- The Book of the Law (1904) — A monograph on Egyptian occult authored by Aleister Crowley. Listed with inception +1904 and identified as a core written work.
- Thelema (1904) — An occult philosophy developed by Aleister Crowley with inception dated +1904. This philosophy is explicitly attributed to him in the source material.
- Abbey of Thelema (inception 1920) — A building in Cefalù, Italy (listed with inception +1920) that appears in the dataset as an entity related to Crowley and Thelema.
- Affiliations with magical orders and institutions — Crowley is associated in the source material with the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn (magical order active in Great Britain; inception +1888), Ordo Templi Orientis (international fraternal and religious organization; inception +1903), and A∴A∴ (a syncretic, initiatory magical order). Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica is listed as the ecclesiastical arm of the Ordo Templi Orientis and is connected in the dataset.
- Broad literary output and roles — The source material classifies Crowley as a writer, playwright, novelist, and autobiographer, indicating published literary work across genres (specific titles beyond The Book of the Law are not provided in the source).
- Diverse activities — The dataset lists Crowley as a mountaineer, astrologer, chess player, and chess composer, indicating practical involvement in these areas (no specific climbs, astrological works, chess tournaments, or compositions are detailed in the source).
- Categorization and roles — The source material also lists Crowley under labels such as founder and prophet, indicating roles attributed to him within the dataset (founder as a general role, and prophet defined as one claiming to speak for divine beings).

## FAQs
Q: What core texts or philosophies did Aleister Crowley produce?
A: Crowley authored The Book of the Law (1904) and developed the occult philosophy known as Thelema (inception 1904), both explicitly attributed to him in the source material.

Q: With which occult orders and organizations was Crowley affiliated?
A: He is associated with the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn (inception 1888), Ordo Templi Orientis (inception 1903), A∴A∴ (a syncretic initiatory order), and Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica (the ecclesiastical arm linked to O.T.O.), and the Abbey of Thelema (Cefalù, inception 1920) appears in the dataset as connected to his work.

Q: What kinds of writing did Crowley do?
A: The dataset classifies him as a writer, playwright (sitelink_count: 93), novelist (sitelink_count: 35), and autobiographer (sitelink_count: 5), which indicates published work in drama, fiction, and personal memoir, in addition to occult monographs.

Q: What other activities or fields did Crowley engage in?
A: He is listed as a mountaineer (sitelink_count: 18), astrologer (sitelink_count: 26), chess player (sitelink_count: 13), and chess composer (sitelink_count: 8), showing a range of extracurricular and intellectual pursuits.

Q: What are some aliases and alternate names used by Crowley?
A: The source lists aliases including Edward Alexander Crowley; H.D. Carr; Master Therion; and Therion.

Q: When did Crowley live and what was his national identity?
A: He was born in 1875 and died in 1947. The dataset describes him as English and associates him with the United Kingdom.

## Why They Matter
Aleister Crowley matters because he is explicitly credited with creating a distinct occult philosophy (Thelema) and for authoring a central text (The Book of the Law, 1904) that anchor that system. Thelema and Crowley’s writings are recurrent reference points in modern occultism and ceremonial magic as recorded in the dataset. His affiliations with major esoteric organizations—Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, Ordo Templi Orientis, A∴A∴—and the ecclesiastical structure Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica indicate structural impacts on institutional occult practice. The Abbey of Thelema (Cefalù; inception 1920) is recorded as a concrete place tied to his activities. Without Crowley’s development of Thelema and his written monograph, a central philosophical and textual strand of 20th-century occultism (as presented in the source) would not exist in the form attributed to him. The dataset further positions him among broader cultural and intellectual currents (e.g., ceremonial magic, occultism, and connections in the data to figures and ideas such as Friedrich Nietzsche and broader themes like social Darwinism), indicating a footprint that intersects literature, ritual practice, and organizational structures in Western esotericism.

## Notable For
- Being identified as an English occultist active across 1875–1947 (wikidata_description: "English occultist (1875–1947)").
- Authoring The Book of the Law (monograph on Egyptian occult; inception +1904).
- Developing the occult philosophy Thelema (inception +1904).
- Association with the Abbey of Thelema in Cefalù, Italy (inception +1920).
- Affiliations with the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn (inception +1888) and Ordo Templi Orientis (inception +1903).
- Association with A∴A∴ (syncretic, initiatory magical order) and Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica (ecclesiastical arm of O.T.O.).
- Multiple literary classifications: playwright (sitelink_count: 93), novelist (sitelink_count: 35), autobiographer (sitelink_count: 5), and writer (sitelink_count: 176).
- Diverse activities beyond occultism: mountaineer (sitelink_count: 18), astrologer (sitelink_count: 26), chess player (sitelink_count: 13), chess composer (sitelink_count: 8).
- Aliases recorded in the dataset: Edward Alexander Crowley; H.D. Carr; Master Therion; Therion.
- Dataset metadata: wikipedia_title "Aleister Crowley"; sitelink_count 77.

## Body

### Early life and education
- Born in 1875; the dataset gives no further birth-place detail.  
- Educated at Tonbridge School and Malvern College, both listed under affiliations.  
- Attended Trinity College, a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, which the dataset lists among his affiliations.  
- The dataset records his nationality as English and associates him with the United Kingdom.

### Literary and written work
- The Book of the Law (inception +1904) is listed specifically as a monograph on Egyptian occult authored by Crowley.  
- Thelema (inception +1904) is listed as an occult philosophy developed by Crowley; the dataset links this philosophy directly to him.  
- The source classifies Crowley as a writer broadly (sitelink_count: 176), and specifically as a playwright (93), a novelist (35), and an autobiographer (5). No additional specific book or play titles beyond The Book of the Law are provided in the source material here.

### Occult philosophy and ritual work
- Thelema is identified as Crowley’s developed occult philosophy with inception in 1904.  
- The Book of the Law is the named textual work connected to Thelema and is described in the dataset as a monograph on Egyptian occult topics.  
- Crowley is listed in the dataset under related topics including occultism and ceremonial magic, indicating his primary field of practice in ritual and esoteric disciplines.

### Organizational affiliations and institutional activity
- Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn is listed as a magical order active in Great Britain with inception +1888; Crowley is associated with it in the dataset.  
- Ordo Templi Orientis (O.T.O.) is listed with inception +1903 and appears as an organization connected to Crowley.  
- A∴A∴ is recorded as a syncretic, initiatory magical order in the dataset; Crowley is associated with this order.  
- Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica is named as the ecclesiastical arm of the Ordo Templi Orientis and is included in the dataset’s key people/entities connected to Crowley.  
- Abbey of Thelema, a building in Cefalù, Italy (inception +1920), appears among related entities tied to Crowley and Thelema.  
- Freemasonry is listed among related topics; the dataset records freemasonry’s inception (1717) and connects it as an affiliation-type entity in Crowley’s network.

### Roles and other activities
- The dataset lists multiple roles and descriptors for Crowley beyond occultist and writer: playwright, novelist, autobiographer, mountaineer, astrologer, chess player, chess composer, founder (general role tag), and prophet (as a category defined in the dataset).  
- These classifications indicate he had pursuits and reputational attributions across literature, sports/physical activity (mountaineering), divinatory practice (astrology), intellectual games (chess and chess composition), and leadership or founding roles within institutions.

### Key people, influences, and contextual entities
- The dataset lists several key people and ideas in Crowley’s network: social Darwinism, Friedrich Nietzsche, Alexander Dugin, Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica, and Ordo Templi Orientis.  
- These entries appear in the source material as related or key and indicate intellectual or organizational connections in the dataset’s representation of Crowley.

### Metadata and identifiers recorded in the source
- Aliases: Edward Alexander Crowley; H.D. Carr; Master Therion; Therion.  
- Wikipedia title recorded: "Aleister Crowley."  
- Wikidata description: "English occultist (1875–1947)."  
- sitelink_count recorded in the dataset for the person: 77.

### Legacy and institutional traces
- Thelema and The Book of the Law are named as his primary intellectual legacies in the source material.  
- The Abbey of Thelema (Cefalù; inception 1920) remains an institutional/place-level trace tied to that body of thought.  
- His recorded associations with O.T.O., Golden Dawn, A∴A∴, and Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica situate him as a node in the institutional development of 20th-century Western esotericism, per the dataset.

### Summary of documented dates and inceptions in the dataset
- Person lifespan (per wikidata_description): 1875–1947.  
- The Book of the Law: inception +1904.  
- Thelema: inception +1904.  
- Ordo Templi Orientis: inception +1903.  
- Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn: inception +1888.  
- Abbey of Thelema (Cefalù): inception +1920.  
- Meenakshi Temple (listed among affiliations in dataset): inception +1200 (included as an affiliated place in the source data).

### Notes on scope of source material
- The dataset provides categorical affiliations, created works and institutional links, and role classifications but does not supply full bibliographic lists, precise dates of birth/death beyond years, specific places of birth, nor detailed descriptions of individual events or controversies. All statements above are limited to what the provided source material contains.

## References

1. BnF authorities
2. Integrated Authority File
3. Virtual International Authority File
4. National Geographic Society
5. International Standard Name Identifier
6. CiNii Research
7. MusicBrainz
8. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
9. [Source](https://finding-aids.lib.unc.edu/11049/)
10. [Source](https://norman.hrc.utexas.edu/fasearch/findingAid.cfm?eadid=00144)
11. [Source](https://uvic2.coppul.archivematica.org/aleister-crowley-fonds)
12. SNAC
13. Find a Grave
14. Le Delarge
15. Internet Speculative Fiction Database
16. Brockhaus Enzyklopädie
17. Vegetti Catalog of Fantastic Literature
18. GeneaStar
19. Babelio
20. Freebase Data Dumps. 2013
21. [Source](https://hermetic.com/crowley/collected-works/iii/rosa-mundi)
22. CONOR.SI
23. Encyclopædia Britannica Online
24. BBC Things
25. Goodreads
26. Quora
27. Aleister Crowley (1875-1947) | Open Library. Open Library
28. LIBRIS. 2008
29. DACS register
30. The Literary Encyclopedia