Aleister Crowley: The Life and Legacy of the Notorious Cult Leader and Novelist

by Charles River Editors

*Includes pictures *Includes quotes *Includes online resources and a bibliography for further reading *Includes a table of contents “What a piece of work is a man! how noble in reason! how infinite in faculty! in form and moving how express and admirable! in action how like an angel! in apprehension how like a god! the beauty of the world! the paragon of animals!” - William Shakespeare. Hamlet Any work about the mercurial Aleister Crowley is better off being labeled a “story” than a “biography” thanks to the impossibility of being sure that anything one reads about him is true. The basic recorded facts, including birth date, educational records, and published works, are reliable indicators that can be likened to stars guiding a lost desert traveler if the sky is clear. For the rest, one is wandering in the wilderness. He has been labeled a Satanist, a sociopath, a drug addict, a murderer, and, not to put too fine a point on it; “the wickedest man on earth” by several prominent newspapers. He has also been hailed as the prophet of the New Age charged with bringing about the spiritual awakening of humanity, a brilliant writer, an intrepid mountaineer, a heroic MI6/MI5 agent, and a gifted magician. He even launched his own religion, called Thelema, which persists to this day. As such, a story about Aleister Crowley must include a timeline of important events in his life, at least as accurately as possible, while examining the several characteristics and aspects of his life and work that make him so influential. Once reviled and discarded by all but his most fervent followers, Crowley’s writings reemerged as the subject of serious scholarship in the 1990s. Aleister The Life and Legacy of the Notorious Cult Leader and Novelist profiles one of the 20th century’s most colorful and controversial figures. Along with pictures of important people, places, and events, you will learn about Crowley like never before.

Genres: History

48 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 6, 2019

About the author

Charles River Editors is an independent publisher of thousands of ebooks on Kindle, Nook, Kobo, and Apple iBookstore & provider of original content for third parties.

Reviews

[Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

The format is a bit disjointed. It presents a brief biography first and then goes back for more detail in some areas. So it isn't linear.

But he had sex with Barbara Bush's mom. So I learned that.

[Baroness · Rating 2 out of 5]

As I embark on a very deliciously dark chapter of my life, the Universe lead me to Crowley.

Hail Satan!

Crowley is an interesting creature but the audiobook needs an exorcism to banish the repetitiveness.

I’m not down with the sacrifice of cats or the way he viewed women, no judgement.
The dude had mommy issues.

I will continue to read his books.
Perhaps I will find the answers I seek...

[Jacob Senholt · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent but very cursory overview of Crowley, his life and works. However I would have liked a more in depth biography; sadly that was all I could find as an audiobook remotely related to this.

[Andrew Pixton · Rating 4 out of 5]

This serves its purpose of quickly and briefly meeting the man behind the magick. The format is a little odd, you get a timeline of his life, and then we go back to focus on his religion/cult stuff, and then go back to revisit other things, his influence, etc. I don't know why it was done that instead of one big timeline, but I suppose it let us focus on each part. A lot in here reminded me of Joseph Smith (I grew up Mormon). The whole folk magic, sex cult, charismatic founder who has visions, worships a God and Goddess, etc. I laughed at the part where it discusses his misogyny and notes the irony of how he's come to hate women and doesn't want them around anymore, yet he's founded a cult based on 'sex magick' and so needs them.

[Mia Siufi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Strongly disagree with the misogynistic views on women, besides that, I had some amazing personal insights regarding my own journey.

[Tom Edwards · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wish this would of been longer. It seemed to rush over things unfortunately.

[Vickie Woodard · Rating 3 out of 5]

OLD NEWS

I've read about Crowley before. Mysticism, travel, mountain climbing and the ever emphasized sex magick. This book didn't add much to what I already knew.

[David · Rating 2 out of 5]

Informative but brief and rudimentary. You'll learn more from Crowley's Wikipedia article.

[Laura · Rating 1 out of 5]

Yawn, no more insightful than a wikipedia page.