Aleister Crowley was an English occultist, philosopher, ceremonial magician, poet, painter, novelist and mountaineer. He founded the religion of Thelema, identifying himself as the prophet entrusted with guiding humanity into the Æon of Horus in the early 20th century. A prolific writer, he published widely over the course of his life.
Thelema is a Western esoteric and occult social or spiritual philosophy and new religious movement founded in the early 1900s by Aleister Crowley (1875–1947), an English writer, mystic, occultist, and ceremonial magician. Central to Thelema is the idea of discovering and following one's True Will, a unique purpose and calling that goes beyond ordinary desires. Crowley's system begins with The Book of the Law, a text he said was dictated to him by an entity named Aiwass. This foundational work lays out key principles, including the central axiom "Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law". This principle emphasizes personal freedom and the pursuit of one's true path, while being guided by love and finding one's authentic purpose.
Ceremonial magic encompasses a wide variety of rituals of magic. The works included are characterized by ceremony and numerous requisite accessories to aid the practitioner. It can be seen as an extension of ritual magic, and in most cases synonymous with it. Popularized by the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, it draws on such schools of philosophical and occult thought as Hermetic Qabalah, Enochian magic, Thelema, and the magic of various grimoires. Ceremonial magic is part of Hermeticism and Western esotericism.
Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers, born Samuel Liddell Mathers, was a British occultist and member of the S.R.I.A.. He is primarily known as one of the founders of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, a ceremonial magic order of which offshoots still exist. He became so synonymous with the order that Golden Dawn scholar Israel Regardie observed in retrospect that "the Golden Dawn was MacGregor Mathers."
Dunnet is a village in Caithness, in the Highland area of Scotland. It is within the Parish of Dunnet.
William Breeze, also known by his neo-Gnostic bishop title of Tau Silenus, is an American writer and publisher on magick and philosophy. He is the Sovereign Patriarch, or supreme governing cleric, of Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica (E.G.C.), the liturgical arm of Ordo Templi Orientis (O.T.O.), of which he is the current Outer Head of the Order (OHO), also known as Frater Superior, as well as caliph, the order's international leader. In this capacity he is a leading editor of the occult works of Aleister Crowley, the founder of the philosophy and religion of Thelema, who is regarded as its prophet.
Marguerite Frieda Harris, Lady Harris, referred to, by her own insistence, as Lady Frieda Harris, was an English artist and, in later life, an associate of the occultist Aleister Crowley. She is best known for her design of Crowley's Thoth tarot deck.
Lon Milo DuQuette, also known as Rabbi Lamed Ben Clifford and by his neo-Gnostic bishop title of Tau Lamed, is an American writer, lecturer, musician, and occultist, best known as an author who applies humor in the field of Western Hermeticism.
Babalon is a goddess found in the occult system of Thelema, which was established in 1904 with the writing of The Book of the Law by English author and occultist Aleister Crowley. The spelling of the name as "Babalon" was revealed to Crowley in The Vision and the Voice. Her name and imagery feature prominently in Crowley's "Liber Cheth vel Vallum Abiegni".
Aiwass is the name given to a voice that the English occultist and ceremonial magician Aleister Crowley reported to have heard on April 8, 9, and 10 in 1904. Crowley reported that this voice, which he considered originated with a non-corporeal being, dictated a text known as The Book of the Law or Liber AL vel Legis to him during his honeymoon in Cairo.
The Boleskine House is a manor on the south-east side of Loch Ness in the Scottish Highlands. It is notable for having been the home of author and occultist Aleister Crowley, and Led Zeppelin guitarist and producer Jimmy Page. It suffered significant fire damage in December 2015 and again in July 2019. The house is now being restored and construction work has started as of December 2019. The Boleskine House Foundation SCIO took over ownership of one part of the estate in 2019 in order to manage restoration efforts on the house.
In ceremonial magic, a magical formula or a word of power is a word that is believed to have specific supernatural effects. They are words whose meaning illustrates principles and degrees of understanding that are often difficult to relay using other forms of speech or writing. It is a concise means to communicate very abstract information through the medium of a word or phrase.
The Rites of Eleusis were a series of seven public invocations or rites written by British occultist Aleister Crowley, each centered on one of the seven classical planets of antiquity. They were dramatically performed by Aleister Crowley, Leila Waddell (Laylah), and Victor Benjamin Neuburg in October and November, 1910, at Caxton Hall, London. This act brought Crowley's occult organization the A∴A∴ into the public eye.
Richard Kaczynski is an American writer and lecturer in the fields of social psychology, metaphysical beliefs and new religious movements. He is known for his biography of the occultist Aleister Crowley, Perdurabo: The Life of Aleister Crowley, described by The Times Literary Supplement as "the major biography to date", and by Didrik Søderlind in the Norwegian daily Aftenposten as the best biography of Crowley.
George Cecil Jones, Jr., was an English chemist, occultist, one time member of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn and co-founder of the magical order A∴A∴. According to author and occultist Aleister Crowley, Jones lived for some time in Basingstoke, Hampshire, England, working at a metallurgy there.
Frank Bennett (1868 – November 1930) was an Australian chemist who was disciple of occultist Aleister Crowley a member and later head of the Ordo Templi Orientis (O.T.O.) in that country. He was a member of Crowley’s A∴A∴ and is often referred to by one of the magical names that he used in that Order: Frater Progradior,.
Foyers is a village in the Highland council area of Scotland, lying on the east shore of Loch Ness. The village is situated on the B852, part of the Military Road built by General George Wade, 10 miles (16 km) northeast of Fort Augustus.
Major Gerald Joseph Yorke was an English soldier and writer. He was a Reuters correspondent while in China for two years in the 1930s, and wrote a book China Changes (1936).
James Wasserman was an American writer and occultist. A member of Ordo Templi Orientis since 1976 and a book designer by trade, he wrote extensively on spiritual and political liberty.
Events from the year 1899 in Scotland.
