The Great Beast: The Life of Aleister Crowley

"Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law." 'Was Crowley mad? Was he just a super- confidence trickster? Was he just a de- bauchee who found an easy trick for hypnotizing women? He was all these-- and something more. He spent his own fortune on his weird beliefs. What makes him interesting is not that he himself was a freak; it is the influence he was able to exert on so many people of education and social standing.' --Reynolds News [Rear cover:] MADMAN? CONFIDENCE TRICKSTER? DEBAUCHER? They called him the wickedest man in the world, and his excesses scandalised and shocked the world of his day as wantonly he trod the path of evil. 'Death, suicide, misery, stalk through the pages ... would make the stoutest admirer quail' --Times Literary Supplement. 'Mr. Symonds has given us all the information which the laws of libel and obscenity permit.' -- News Chronicle. 'Certain to startle the ordinary reader with its narrative of lethal excesses.' --The Scotsman. [No Contents page or Chapter names/numbers] Mother, Father, and Son ........................ 8 The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn .......... 14 The Laird of Boleskine ......................... 24 Against Chogo Ri ............................... 36 Prince and Princess Chioa Khan ................. 42 Kangchenjunga, the Five Sacred Peaks ........... 56 Aiwass, the Holy Guardian Angel ................ 51 The Walk Across China .......................... 73 Eaters of Scorpions ............................ 79 The Brothers and Sisters of the A.'. A .'. ..... 85 Sexual Magic in Victoria Street ................100 The Wizard in the Wood .........................105 The Scarlet Woman ..............................118 Concubines One and Two .........................126 The Sacred Abbey of Thelema ....................131 The Ipsissimus .................................146 Cakes of Light for Mary Butts ..................153 'The Fountain of Hyacinth' .....................160 Crowley Upsets James Douglas ...................171 The Gods Claim a Victim ........................177 Norman Mudd a Probationer of the A .'. A.'. ....193 In Exile .......................................198 Persecution of the Thelemites ..................208 The Rebirth of Alostrael .......................222 A Nest of Serpents .............................233 The Beast and the Monster ......................241 The Ambivalence of Gertrude ....................253 Mr. Justice Swift is Surprised .................258 Magical Retirement .............................263