was born in 1875. Perhaps no character in history has become synonymous with mysticism and magic like him. The British mystic, ritual magician, poet, painter, novelist, mountaineer and self-proclaimed prophet, claimed to be responsible for bringing mankind into a more conscious, self-realized era, known as the Son of Horus, also known in his life as the "Great Beast" and "the most evil man in the world", was originally a member of the mysterious Golden Dawn, which focused on ancient magic and mystical philosophy, and in his life he would leave indelible traces of mysticism.
During his life, he left an indelible mark on the mysticism, which played an important role in the development of some alternative religions and mysticism movements, such as the Ordo Templi Orientis, a sect called A∴A∴, and a semi-Satanic sect dedicated to ritual magic, called Thelema, Crowley believes that he was given a supernatural entity command called Aiwass. In his very strange life, he became a highly influential figure in the West, traveling the world, here we will look at some mysteries that are inseparable from Crowley's dark legacy, with a place that is accompanied by many of Crowley's quirks, which can be traced back to his days as a member of the Golden Dawn Mysterious Order, co-founded by Samuel Liddle McGregor Mathers.
Crowley has developed well in the organization, he made friends with Mathers and quickly made his mark in the organization, but at the same time he also encountered boycotts from senior members of the organization's London chapter who did not like his quirky ways, openly bisexual and a hedonistic slutty life.
Because of this, he was rejected when Crowley tried to join the organization's second-highest rank, which caused a big rift within the organization considering Mathers' full support for Crowley. Mathers ignored the London chapter’s ruling and not only raised Crowley to the level of “exempt priest”, the highest level of the second level, but he also declared that the London chapter was not a real, formal part of Golden Dawn, who fought back by removing Mathers from his leadership position.
This created a considerable crack within the Order, and Crowley concluded that the only way to solve this problem was to launch a full-scale magical attack on the London temple of the Order of Hermetti, at 36 Bryce Road. In 1900, Crowley put on a full highland costume and short skirt, somehow put on Osiris' mask, armed himself with a gilded dagger, launching what he called "interstellar siege" at the temple of the London branch, waving the dagger while breaking in and casting spells. The plan was to retake the temple as their own temple, but it did not go as planned, because no matter what spell Crowley cast, it did not include "spells to keep the police away." Authorities arrived, Crowley was arrested and the London chapter won the court. Today, there is an inappropriate cafe called George Cafe, and there is no sign that the magical "Brith Street Battle" has happened.
A possible more well-known location related to Crowley's antics is the Borles Golden House, a stately estate located southeast of Loch Ness in the Scottish Highlands. The Bolskin Manor was built in the 1660s by Colonel Archibald Fraser as a hunting lodge that had a sinister atmosphere from the beginning, it was said to be built on the ruins of a 10th-century church that was burned down and everyone inside was dead, and it was said to have been the residence of an evil wizard who resurrected the body in a nearby cemetery.
In other words, this was the perfect place for Crowley, who acquired the estate from the Fraser family in 1899 with the aim of using it for a series of dark rituals from a magic book called The Book of Abramelin, which he believed could actually summon a man's guardian angel. The complete ritual should be a arduous 6-month process, involving not only various ways of abstinence, but also summoning 12 kings and dukes of hell who should be combined with the magician to remove negative effects from his life, but if the ritual is in the wrong way, or if they are not properly driven away at the end of the ritual, they will also break free and do whatever they want.
According to Crowley, he failed to do this, and after he completed the ceremony, he left the demon in the house, causing various misfortunes in and around the Golden House of Boruss. His homeowner Hugh Gillies has suffered some personal tragedies, including the loss of two children, another employee who attempted to murder his entire family, and there are many reports of ghosts lurking in the area. Crowley would admit frankly that his spells in the house were out of control, that he had lost control of the demons, and that the subsequent master would also experience haunting, misfortune and tragedy, including madness, suicide and inexplicable fires. To this day, the Golden House of Boruss has maintained its ominous reputation, and it remains a major stop for anyone who wants to visit Crowley’s most notorious place.
Boles Golden House
Another place where Crowley manages to instill with strange stories is an uninhabited island in the Hudson River in New York called Ethops Island. It is a mostly unremarkable overgrown rock slope, but for some reason Crowley believes it is the perfect place to translate Chinese philosophy and religion Taoist text The Tao Te Ching. In 1918, Crowley bought a canoe and headed to the island with paint, brushes and ropes, bringing only a little food, as he announced that he would be fed by crows. Then he spent 40 days and nights of meditation, ceremonies, wandering around in his robes, drawing symbols and messages on the rocks on the island, basically frightening everyone, and although camping on the island was illegal at the time, no one was going to tell him.
When he claimed that when he was on the island, he received many hallucinations about his previous life, including Taoist Ge Xuan, Renaissance Pope Alexander VI , alchemist Alessandro Calistro and magician Elifas Levi, etc. This is another strange chapter in Crowley's bizarre life. Another strange stunt by Crowley takes place in a place called Boca do Inferno, or "The Mouth of Hell", located on a seaside cliff west of Cascais, Portugal. Boca do Inferno is a gulf leading to the cave system, and its name comes from surging waves that slam the holes violently and spurt out from the holes above, forming a surging whirlwind and flying sea mist leading to the darkness below.
1930, Crowley came here and planned to forge his death, but the reason was not fully understood. The crazy magician clearly felt like he had thrown himself into the surging gap that was bubbling, and for the sake of safety he also left behind the suicide note of the poet Fernando Pessoa . This sloppy and almost unrecognizable suicide note was written in the terrible Portuguese , decorated with many mysterious symbols that no one can understand, and was widely published in Portuguese newspapers at the time, saying: "You can't live without you. Another hell mouth that will be captured will not be as hot as yours." While it is believed that he committed suicide for one of his mistresses, Crowley reappeared on an arts expedition in Berlin three weeks later, so it seems likely that it was just a prank and publicity stunt.
In Cefalù, on the coast of Sicily, there is an inconspicuous single-story villa facing Mediterranean , joining the ranks of strange places related to Crowley. Crowley and his lover Leah Hesig rented the place out in 1920 with the aim of making it a temple and spiritual center for Crowley's followers, which he called the "Collegium ad Spiritum Sanctum", where they could live daily through the laws of Thelema. Crowley believed this was an idealistic utopia that could be used as a place for magic schools, temples, rituals and spiritual healing, which he liked to call "anti-monastery", and the order he gave to all those who came here was "will be all the law", so it certainly became a place for hedonism , carnival, use of psychotropic drugs, sexual magic rituals and various debauchery.
There are many erotic artworks and various paintings of demons and monsters and decorations of murals. Crowley hopes that this place will become a global destination for his followers, and people from all over the world will come here to practice magic and live a hedonistic and slutty life. However, by 1923, the locals had had enough of all the rituals and sexual parties there, and Crowley and his followers were driven out by the Mussolini regime, and most of the artworks were destroyed and smeared, leaving most of Crowley's works in Cefalu in history. What is known as the Monastery of the Salem is still there, but it is already a shabby shadow, and there is little to show that Crowley and his followers were once here.
Finally, we come to the end of the Crowley era, and the entire town that he is said to have cursed with magic for his resentment. In 1944, Crowley moved to a hotel called Netherwood in a large seaside city and district on the south coast of England, where he immediately continued his eccentric behavior. Although Crowley was reported to be charming and affinity during his stay there, he often referred to himself as "666" or "beast", who paid for his secretary with magical teachings rather than money, his room, as a newspaper said, "was hung with mysterious, oppressive paintings like 'totem poles' whose purpose is incomprehensible", and a team of famous wizards, illusions, alchemists and other mystics visited him.
Apart from that, Crowley was said to have lived a fairly normal life (for him) during his stay there until his death in 1947, but his reputation was earlier than him, and he was regarded as a rebellious, depraved drug addict and demon worshiper, and the city of Hastings refused to let him cremate there, and even his funeral was called Black Mass. Crowley seems to have the last laugh, though, because one ongoing rumor is that before his death, he held a ceremony that cursed the entire town.
