6,493
edits
Difference between revisions of "Aleister Crowley"
→United States: 1914–1919
Occultwiki (talk | contribs) |
Occultwiki (talk | contribs) |
||
| Line 74: | Line 74: | ||
By 1914, Crowley was living a hand-to-mouth existence, relying largely on donations from A∴A∴ members and dues payments made to O.T.O. In May, he transferred ownership of [[Boleskine House]] to the MMM for financial reasons, and in July he went mountaineering in the Swiss Alps. | By 1914, Crowley was living a hand-to-mouth existence, relying largely on donations from A∴A∴ members and dues payments made to O.T.O. In May, he transferred ownership of [[Boleskine House]] to the MMM for financial reasons, and in July he went mountaineering in the Swiss Alps. | ||
During this time the First World War broke out. After recuperating from a bout of phlebitis, Crowley set sail for the United States aboard the RMS ''Lusitania'' in October 1914. Arriving in New York City, he moved into a hotel and began earning money writing for the American edition of Vanity Fair and undertaking freelance work for the famed [[astrology|astrologer]] [[Evangeline Adams]]. In the city, he continued experimenting with sex magic, through the use of masturbation, female prostitutes, and male clients of a Turkish bathhouse; all of these encounters were documented in his diaries. | During this time the First World War broke out. After recuperating from a bout of phlebitis, Crowley set sail for the United States aboard the RMS ''Lusitania'' in October 1914. Arriving in New York City, he moved into a hotel and began earning money writing for the American edition of ''Vanity Fair'' and undertaking freelance work for the famed [[astrology|astrologer]] [[Evangeline Adams]]. In the city, he continued experimenting with [[sex magic]], through the use of masturbation, female prostitutes, and male clients of a Turkish bathhouse; all of these encounters were documented in his diaries. | ||
In Vancouver, headquarters of the North American O.T.O., he met with Charles Stansfeld Jones and Wilfred Talbot Smith to discuss the propagation of [[Thelema]] on the continent. In Detroit he experimented with [[peyote]] at Parke-Davis, then visited Seattle, San Francisco, Santa Cruz, Los Angeles, San Diego, Tijuana, and the Grand Canyon, before returning to New York. There he befriended Ananda Coomaraswamy and his wife Alice Richardson; Crowley and Richardson performed [[sex magic]] in April 1916, following which she became pregnant and then miscarried. Later that year he took a "magical retirement" to a cabin by Lake Pasquaney owned by Evangeline Adams. There, he made heavy use of [[recreational drug|drugs]] and undertook a ritual after which he proclaimed himself "Master Therion." | In Vancouver, headquarters of the North American O.T.O., he met with Charles Stansfeld Jones and Wilfred Talbot Smith to discuss the propagation of [[Thelema]] on the continent. In Detroit he experimented with [[peyote]] at Parke-Davis, then visited Seattle, San Francisco, Santa Cruz, Los Angeles, San Diego, Tijuana, and the Grand Canyon, before returning to New York. There he befriended Ananda Coomaraswamy and his wife Alice Richardson; Crowley and Richardson performed [[sex magic]] in April 1916, following which she became pregnant and then miscarried. Later that year he took a "magical retirement" to a cabin by Lake Pasquaney owned by Evangeline Adams. There, he made heavy use of [[recreational drug|drugs]] and undertook a ritual after which he proclaimed himself "Master Therion." | ||
In December, he moved to New Orleans, his favourite US city, before spending February 1917 with evangelical Christian relatives in Titusville, Florida | In December, he moved to New Orleans, his favourite US city, before spending February 1917 with evangelical Christian relatives in Titusville, Florida before returning to New York City. | ||
In 1918, Crowley went on a magical retreat in the wilderness of [[Esopus Island]] on the Hudson River. Here, he began a translation of the [[Tao Te Ching]], painted Thelemic slogans on the riverside cliffs, and—he later claimed—experienced past life memories of being Ge Xuan, Pope Alexander VI, Alessandro Cagliostro, and [[Eliphas Levi]]. Back in New York City, he moved to Greenwich Village, where he took Leah Hirsig as his lover and next Scarlet Woman. He took up painting as a hobby, exhibiting his work at the Greenwich Village Liberal Club and attracting the attention of the ''New York Evening World''. With the financial assistance of sympathetic Freemasons, Crowley revived ''The Equinox'' with the first issue of volume III, known as ''The Blue Equinox''. He spent mid-1919 on a climbing holiday in Montauk before returning to London in December. | In 1918, Crowley went on a magical retreat in the wilderness of [[Esopus Island]] on the Hudson River. Here, he began a translation of the [[Tao Te Ching]], painted Thelemic slogans on the riverside cliffs, and—he later claimed—experienced past life memories of being Ge Xuan, Pope Alexander VI, Alessandro Cagliostro, and [[Eliphas Levi]]. Back in New York City, he moved to Greenwich Village, where he took Leah Hirsig as his lover and next Scarlet Woman. He took up painting as a hobby, exhibiting his work at the Greenwich Village Liberal Club and attracting the attention of the ''New York Evening World''. With the financial assistance of sympathetic Freemasons, Crowley revived ''The Equinox'' with the first issue of volume III, known as ''The Blue Equinox''. He spent mid-1919 on a climbing holiday in Montauk before returning to London in December. | ||