1923 March 10 - John Bull

John Bull, 10th March 1923

The King Of Depravity.

We reveal here a new plot of that debauchee, - Crowley, to procure fresh victims for his unspeakable infamies, which have again been brought to light by the mysterious death of his "Secretary," a young Oxford man, in his latest Lust Temple in Sicily.

It is over twelve years ago since John Bull first exposed the corrupting infamies of that arch-traitor, debauchee and drug-fiend, Aleister Crowley, whose unspeakable malpractice’s are said to have driven his former wife and at least one other of his victims mad, while they have already ruined the lives of numerous cultured and refined women and young men, one of whom - a brilliant young writer and University man - has just died under mysterious circumstances at Crowley’s so-called "Abbey" of Thelema, in Cefalu, Sicily.

Crowley, spirit incarnate of depravity, has a long record of black and treacherous infamy. Educated at Cambridge, the sacred pillars of which he was not fit to touch, he travelled a great deal in his youth and some twenty years ago, established himself in a remote part of Scotland, some miles north of Fort William. Here he built a Temple of Mystery, in which he carried on his revolting malpractice’s, under the guise of studying the Cabala. At this time he described himself as the Laird of Boleskine.

Later he went to China, and returned to England to open another Chamber of Horrors in London. When war came, Crowley left his London life of lust and lechery, and disdainfully discarded his many ruined and disgraced pupils. Like so many other British traitors, he found refuge in America, where, with a variety of aliases, he gave himself up to the service of Germany.

The young wife of his last victim had a narrow escape from Crowley’s clutches, and has been seen since her arrival in London by one of our Special Investigators.

The information we have brought to light concerning the latest discovered deviltries of this wretch may be detailed briefly.

He ingratiated himself into the confidence of the brilliant young Oxford man who now lies dead.

With his usual lust for exploiting talented young men and women for his own debased ends, he offered the unsuspecting young fellow - a writer of much promise, who was keenly interested in the occult sciences of which Crowley is an unquestioned master - a post as his secretary.

This young man, had recently married a very beautiful girl, well known in London’s artistic circles. There is no doubt that the prospect of getting this beautiful young bride into his power induced Crowley to make his offer to the young husband. His idea was to lure the couple to his Abode of Lust in Cefalu, Sicily, where everyone in his "Order" is compelled to obey every injunction and wish of his under threat of death.

We have also succeeded in obtaining sufficient information to confirm the amazing and horrible revelations made by the twenty year-old widow of Crowley’s latest victim. We are claiming for her police protection from the emissary who has just arrived from Sicily to get her back.

This woman - for his emissary is a well-known film actress who left Los Angeles to join his "colony" at Cefalu - has been under our observation ever since she left the Abbey.

For the moment we withhold her name lest it should cause embarrassment to certain innocent persons whom she has already approached since her arrival in England last week after having been delayed at Rome and Palermo over some trouble with her passport. It is, however, only fair to record that - according to information which we obtained from an unsuspecting but reliable source - this woman, until her departure from America to join Crowley, enjoyed a high social as well as professional reputation in Los Angeles, and seems an absolutely sincere but devoted dupe of this man, under whose hypnotic influence she has, however, become addicted to heroin and other noxious drugs. We are also aware of at least one of the sources of the supply of the drugs which have long played a leading part in Crowley’s plan of campaign and in the bestial excesses which he practices in the Abbey.

Some of Crowley’s assets, besides an uncanny influence over, and unholy attraction for women, are a very persuasive tongue, a glib and deceptive hypocrisy, and - on occasion - a most ingratiating manner. Many highly intelligent women - and even men - have been convinced that the Master Therion (as Crowley calls himself) is a Saint, to discover too late a devil possessed of indubitable occult powers. It is these mysterious powers which, used as they are, make Crowley one of the most dangerous men alive.

It was, therefore, an easy matter for the Beast to lure this young and unsuspecting married couple to Cefalu. once in the rock-bound Abbey of Thelema, however, they quickly found that they had been trapped by an obscene and filthy devil in human form. They resisted the monster and his drug maddened women with all the strength they could when they found that Crowley’s purpose in luring them into the close confinement and terrifying "discipline" of his infamous Abbey was to corrupt them both to his own, vile ends.

Suddenly, the husband became mysteriously ill, leaving the girl-wife alone to fight the Beast. She bravely defied him, and says that Crowley turned her out that night. Within twenty-four hours of his seizure the young husband died. The doctor from Cefalu, who was called, diagnosed the mysterious and fatal malady as acute enteritis, were told, but "was puzzled at the case and at certain peculiarities in the nature of the attack" which quickly ended in death.

In the light of the disclosures we have already made, and of those we shall make in subsequent articles based upon authoritative information and documents in our possession, we unhesitatingly demand :-

1. A post-mortem examination by Italian authorities upon this fortunate young Englishman and a searching inquiry into the activities at the "Abbey" and of it’s nefarious Master.

2. That a close observation be maintained by Scotland yard of the movements of Crowley’s present woman emissary in London and that they see that she leaves the country unaccompanied by anyone.

3. That the Home Office, which is already in possession of more (unreadable word - SB) sufficient evidence to justify grave criminal charges being preferred against him, demand the extradition of Crowley.