The following paragraphs are News Items that this site carried from February 2002 to early July 2003.
Only a few of the links are retained. This list is presented for archival reasons.
5 July 2003
I’ve received confirmed information regarding OCCULTURE 2003, which is on Saturday 19 July at the Grand Parade, Brighton, UK. Tickets (available from DOME BOX OFFICE 01273 709709) are priced as follows: Solar £10 (12pm-6pm) and Lunar £14 (12pm-11pm). The Lunar ticket includes evening performances with Ed Alleyne-Johnson and Jaz Coleman. The event features two stages of non-stop talks, occult film festival, ritual theatre, esoteric dance, stalls, music, performances and the giant Enochian chess set. Guests include Jaz Coleman (from the excellent Killing Joke), Colin Wilson (perhaps someone could ask him what went wrong with the research on his dreadful Crowley biography!), Adrian Gilbert, Paul Devereux, and the Gurdjieff Dancers. Also, Z’EV, Mogg Morgan (of Mandrake of Oxford and the old OGDOS), and, erm, “Toad Magic”.
2 July 2003
A remarkably well-informed article from UTV manages to link Aleister Crowley and Robert Anton Wilson with footballer David Beckham.
30 June 2003
Crowley portrait gallery is now available on this site, posted with authority of the copyright owner. Additional images will be uploaded soon. Note that the images are digitally watermarked and must not be reproduced without the approval of the copyright owner.
25 June 2003
I’m pleased to announce that 100 individuals have now downloaded the lashtal.com Thelemic Culture News Klip. Thank you.
24 June 2003
New Falcon have published a revised and expanded edition of The Complete Golden Dawn System Of Magic by Israel Regardie.
24 June 2003
Fulgur have announced a delay to the publication of Images And Oracles Of Austin Spare by Kenneth Grant. It’s only delayed to the third week in July, though, and I’m told that copies of the 500 “standard” edition can still be reserved.
23 June 2003
Continuing the Crowley/Harry Potter theme, WorldNetDaily includes a surprisingly witty article by “Christian libertarian Vox Day”: Well-meaning Christians have attacked Harry Potter because of the idea that the books make the occult appear fun. But this is like attacking pornography because it makes sex appear fun… Sin, in general, is fun. And so is the occult. Aleister Crowley, at least, knew how to party. “OK, guys, and for the altar, we’ll use a hot naked redhead!”
22 June 2003
The excellent www.crowleyana.co.uk is temporarily unavailable. Doug has asked me to mention that this is the result of a technical hitch and, thank goodness, is not permanent.
21 June 2003
I am pleased to be able to recommend The Secret Temple web site. This fascinating resource provides much source material regarding Crowley’s time spent in Egypt around the Cairo Working. The site includes fascinating essays and intriguing photographs. Highly recommended!
21 June 2003
Just when you think that Crowley and Thelema are being treated more seriously, it’s an education to trawl the Newsgroups. For example, the following nonsense from alt.bible.prophecy: Young children and others under the extreme influences of Harry Potter and others of the same ilk. Practicing pagans, witches and warlocks in record numbers. Record numbers at Stonehenge this year. Little ‘innocent’ teenage witches and Harry Potter are practicing the exact same things Aleister Crowley was. There is no genuine differences between so-called white and black magik. White witches who have moved up will tell you without reservation that eventually it all goes to hardcore luciferianism where lucifer and satan are literally worshipped as lord and master.
19 June 2003
Jaz Coleman – of the excellent rock band Killing Joke – has long held at least a peripheral role in Thelemic culture. Many consider “Pandemonium” to be one of the most obviously Thelemically inspired albums of recent years. It’s therefore pleasing to see that a new Killing Joke album is due for release on 28 July 2003. More information as it becomes available.
16 June 2003
Ben Fernee of Caduceus Books reports: I am pleased to announce that Caduceus Books has sold the original oil painting of Aleister Crowley by Leon Engers Kennedy to the National Portrait Gallery in London. It was first reproduced in the Blue Equinox 1919 and has been much used since then, notably on John Symonds biography, King of the Shadow Realm… The portrait will be on show this autumn.
13 June 2003
Evan Dando is the latest popular musician to name check Crowley: Dando said he enjoys sightseeing between gigs. He reads a lot, too. He just finished “A Magick Life,” a biography of occultist Aleister Crowley, and he’s currently into “The Enchanted Wood,” a children’s book by Enid Blyton.
10 June 2003
I’ve just received a copy of David Keenan’s England’s Hidden Reverse – a Secret History of the Esoteric Underground. It’s a beautifully produced hardback history of Nurse With Wound, Coil and the remarkable Current 93. Numerous Crowley references and a fascinating work.
6 June 2003
Thanks to Doug Brown of the excellent crowleyana.co.uk resource for this: Jimmy Page was interviewed on Radio 5 Live (UK) during the week. Some interesting – though guarded! – remarks about Crowley, Zoso and Boleskine. The programme is still available for download at this time from alt.binaries.sound.radio.bbc
2 June 2003
The webmaster had the great pleasure to be at the Download festival (Castle Donnington near Leicester, UK) on Saturday 31 May 2003. Marilyn Manson’s new image worked well for those of us in the mosh pit – and, yes, I am too old to be doing that sort of thing! Iron Maiden’s front man Bruce Dickinson introduced their song Revelation as being “about Aleister Crowley and G K Chesterton”. An unexpected name check in front of 72,000 heavy metal fans…
1 June 2003
I seem to have missed this extract from The Guardian (UK – 23 April 2003): “Cradle of Filth are steeped in a theatricality that owes as much to vaudeville as to Aleister Crowley. They are really just Kiss with a dash of devilish seasoning, a triumph of niche-imaging that makes them irresistible to the young and grumpy.”
Also, in an article in The Observer (effectively the Sunday edition of The Guardian – UK – 30 March 2003) recommending Sicily as a place to buy property: “D.H. Lawrence and Aleister Crowley both made Sicily their home. Crowley was regarded with some amusement by locals in the beautiful northern town of Cefalù, but was turfed out by Mussolini for his orgies and depravity.”
29 May 2003
Madonna To Fund $5 million London Occult Centre: MIDDLE AGED POP STAR Madonna is to plunge $5 million into an occult centre based in London’s West End, it has emerged. According to today’s Observer, quoting property paper the Estates Gazette, Madonna and her hubbie are behind the acquisition of property at 12 Stratford Place, W1 – which will cost £3.65 million in British money – on behalf of the Kabbalah Society. The kabbalah is an originally Jewish system of theosophy which has numbered amongst its adherents Western occultists including Robert Fludd, Cornelius Henry Agrippa, poets like WB Yeats, and the self-styled Great Beast 666, Aleister Crowley.
29 May 2003
An idle hour’s trawling the Web threw up this fascinating play or screenplay – Wilfred and Jack Parsons start to receive some cultural credit!
26 May 2003
I’m proud to announce the availability of some Crowley merchandise. All proceeds will go to the running of this site. Take a look and then buy … you know you’ll want to!
24 May 2003
Just a polite reminder that two historic Led Zeppelin items are released internationally on Tuesday 27 May 2003. See Jimmy Page, the most culturally prominent Thelemite, on DVD and hear him on How The West Was Won. Click either title here to pre-order.
21 May 2003
Starfire Publishing Ltd has announced the publication of Kenneth Grant’s latest fiction: Gamaliel: The Diary Of A Vampire and Dance, Doll, Dance! A launch evening will be held in London on Saturday 24 May 2003. Click here for full details of the book and the launch function.
19 May 2003
The old Message Board has been replaced by a more advanced Thelemic Culture Forum. Please visit, register if you like, and start communicating with other visitors to this site and crowleyana.co.uk. This site alone is visited daily by up to 100 individuals – together we should be able to develop a significant community of Thelemites and others interested in Thelema.
18 May 2003
Surprising – and very welcome! – publishing news: Fulgur have negotiated a deal with Kenneth Grant and will be releasing a limited edition of his Images and Oracles of Austin Spare. I understand that the publication date is June 21 and that there will be two versions: Standard edition of 500 copies at £40, and a Special edition of 93 copies at £120. More detail as I receive it…
18 May 2003
Request for information:
All the standard biographies of Aleister Crowley give Leah Hirsig’s year of death as 1951. She was clearly alive in the late 40s when John Symonds chose to preserve her anonymity for the publication of The Great Beast by calling her “Leah Faesi”. However, there is what appears to be a definitive website relating to the Hirsig family (which, by the way, includes the family crest) that gives her year of death as 1975. Is anyone able to help me to determine the truth behind this discrepancy?
18 May 2003
Richard Spence’s fascinating article on Crowley’s involvement in counter-intelligence is now available to read online: Secret Agent 666: Aleister Crowley and British Intelligence in America, 1914-1918. Highly recommended source material.
15 May 2003
property.scotsman.com reports that: A MANSION intended as a Loch Ness Highland hideaway for the rock drummer Michael Lee has gone on the market at £100,000. Lee, a Grammy-winning drummer who has toured with the former Led Zeppelin stars Robert Plant and Jimmy Page, had hoped to transform the old two-up, two-down lodge with turret bedrooms and a 60ft great hall. Work on the house was about a third of the way through when stopped. The rock star was introduced to the area by Page, who owned Boleskine House at nearby Foyers, a house previously belonging to Aleister Crowley, who carried out black magic rites there.
6 May 2003
UK national television Channel 5 has just broadcast a documentary which featured a Crowley name-check. Hideous Crime: The Vampire Killers was presented as a Disturbing documentary which looks at two recent horrific ‘vampire’ murders and asks if this the work of severely disturbed individuals or a sign of a more widespread social problem. In 2001, 17-year-old Matthew Hardman killed a 90-year-old woman and drank her blood, and Goth couple Daniel and Manuela Ruda’s bizarre satanistic lifestyle was uncovered after they murdered a work colleague. Generally intelligent, with an interesting piece to camera by Gavin Baddeley, who featured in Channel 4’s Masters Of Darkness Crowley documentary, the programme featured comments made by Valerie Sinason (about whom, click here).
1 May 2003
LA Weekly presents an interesting and sympathetic review by Brendan Mullen (Cease To Exist: The Opening Of Genesis P-Orridge) of Genesis P-Orridge’s fasinating Painful But Fabulous book. Passing references to Crowley.
James Bond baddie “Le Chiffre may even have been based on diabolist Aleister Crowley, whom [Ian] Fleming had met briefly during the war.” See this article from the Sunday Herald.
keysnews.com (“The Florida Keys only Daily online News”), in an article dated 31 December 2002 (Three Devout Wishes For The New Year) manages to fuse together the story of Crowley’s time at Boleskine with The Wicker Man! When “the world’s wickedest man,” Aleister Crowley, wanted to have his fun some 70 years ago, he wired the chief of Britain’s police to complain about the prostitution that was “conspicuous” on the tiny island where he lived off the coast of Scotland. The police arrived by boat but found no prostitutes. To which Crowley responded: “Conspicuous by their absence, you fools.”
In an article intriguingly dated 12 October 2002, icCoventry.co.uk discusses the honouring of certain semi-famous ex-residents of Leamington Spa. Amusingly it ends with the following piece of irony: Another notorious resident was Aleister Crowley, an occultist with a reputation for black magic and drug addiction. A plaque has not been set up for him.
30 April 2003
Click here to visit an odd collection of digital photographs, curiously titled Walking In Aleister Crowley’s Footsteps. And before anyone asks: no, I don’t understand!
29 April 2003
In a well-informed and balanced article for AskMen.com, Bernie Alexander presents a popular view of Aleister Crowley: Prophet Or Kook?
27 April 2003
A neat and fast-loading online version of The Book Of The Law (Liber AL vel Legis) – link supplied as a result of several requests for links to a definitive online version.
14 April 2003
A couple of interesting new additions to the Crowley material available from Amazon.co.uk. First, there’s Understanding Aleister Crowley’s Thoth Tarot: An Authoritative Examination of the World’s Most Fascinating and Magical Tarot Cards, by Lon Milo DuQuette (due for publication by Weiser in November 2003). Next is Crowley’s The Diary Of A Drug Fiend, published by Weiser in June 2003, edited by Hymenaeus Beta of the OTO. Francis King’s The Magical World Of Aleister Crowley was apparently re-issued by Creation Books in February 2003 as Megatherion. Finally, Richard Kaczynski’s wonderful biography of Aleister Crowley, Perdurabo, is at last available in the UK – highly recommended (see below for more information).
13 April 2003
The UK tabloid newspaper, The Mail on Sunday, today includes a lengthy article about a forthcoming film of the life and untimely death of Brian Jones (“The one from the Rolling Stones” – G P’Orridge). The Mail writer refers to Anita Pallenberg, who is cast as “a malign figure credited with introducing the group to mysticism and the black magic arts of Aleister Crowley, the heroin addict and Satanist practicioner who died in 1947”. Thanks to Fergus Sheppard for this reference.
12 April 2003
Rock band White Stripes’ latest music video (“7 Nation Army”) features dancing skeletons and a reference to Aleister crowley.
26 March 2003
UK’s Q Magazine has just published a 146-page Led Zeppelin “Special Edition” – it is an astonishing publication that I would recommend highly to any fans. In an interview conducted in February 2003, guitarist Jimmy Page is asked several questions relating to Crowley. Surprisingly, he answers them! For example, “The first book I read about Aleister Crowley was The Great Beast and it created an intense curiosity. The more I read about him the more fascinated I became… I found that his system worked.” When asked if his interest impacted upon Led Zeppelin’s music, he answers: “As far as my involvement went, it did, yes.” Absolutely fascinating interview, excellent articles and a well-informed piece on Crowley.
16 March 2003
Camille Paglia on Crowley and Scientology; a disappointing error-strewn article from PageSix.com. For example, “The trendiest religion in Hollywood was founded on the teachings of a Satanist, a new essay by Camille Paglia claims… Hubbard had met Crowley in the latter’s Los Angeles temple in 1945, Paglia writes… Crowley, a Nazi sympathizer who used opiates and hallucinogens and called himself “The Great Beast,” advocated total sexual freedom, including orgies and bestiality…”
15 March 2003
Work continues on the portrait gallery – until it’s ready, enjoy this taster…
5 March 2003
Crowley makes yet another unwelcome visit to the crime pages; this time courtesy of The Examiner (San Francisco: US): Accused Arsonist Was Brainwashed. In a familiar slant, the article states: “He convinced her to study the writings of occultist Aleister Crowley and The Book of the Antichrist. She started wearing black and talking about Satan.”
2 March 2003
Richard Kaczynski’s Perdurabo still doesn’t appear to have made it as far as Amazon in the UK, which is a great shame. The book is, without any doubt, the finest, most detailed and most informative of all the Crowley biographies. I am preparing a full review of the text for publication on this site shortly. Meanwhile, though, I have absolutely no hesitation in recommending it to all serious students of Crowley’s life…
1 March 2003
Following a lengthy quiet spell in the media, Crowley gets numerous namechecks in the current issue of Metal Hammer (UK), mainly as a result of the latest release by Cradle Of Filth. Nothing too erudite or detailed…
16 February 2003
Check out this site’s Portrait Gallery for a “work-in-progress”.
16 February 2003
The link between Fu Manchu, Aleister Crowley and an Irish poet. From The Guardian (UK).
16 February 2003
How To Repel Evangelists using The Book Of The Law and a dead chicken. Amusing article from The Age (Australia).
11 February 2003
Just a word of recommendation for the website of a collector of Crowleyana: 666books.com – I really can’t recommend it too strongly for those interested in AC’s published works.
9 February 2003
I’ve been sent a scan of a drawing of Crowley by Max BRÜNING from 1930. Click here to see the image…
7 February 2003
If you haven’t already done so, you may want to take a look at my eBay auctions – simply click here or in the menu option at the top left of this page. There are currently eleven items of specific interest to students of Aleister Crowley.
26 January 2003
Today’s Sunday Telegraph (UK) includes a fairly lengthy review of The Journals of Mary Butts by Nathalie Blondel, together with a photograph of Mary Butts with Paul Robeson in 1927. The article refers to “her falling under the spell of the dark arts of Aleister Crowley”.
23 January 2003
The name of Mary Butts will be familiar to all serious students of Crowley’s life. Her Journals have just been published. Click here for a review.
18 January 2003
In a major development, lashtal.com now offers the most recent Thelemic News headlines from this site direct to your desktop using “KlipFolio”, free software. This free facility has to be seen to be believed! If anyone with artistic skills would be kind enough to design a 16×16 pixel icon for use with the News Klip, representative of Thelema, then please forward it to the webmaster.
18 January 2003
In the course of a double-page feature on the albums of Led Zeppelin in the current issue of Q magazine is a review of their “indispensable … truly exceptional” fourth album, including: “The bustle Plant created in young girls’ hedgerows here met Page’s Aleister Crowley fixation full on.”
14 January 2003
Richard Kaczynski’s Perdurabo: The Life Of Aleister Crowley arrived today. Initial impressions are favourable…
12 January 2003
In today’s Sunday Telegraph (UK), Anthony Daniels namechecks Crowley in a review of The Road Of Excess by Marcus Boon: “Aleister Crowley, for example, who regarded evil as an advertising slogan for himself, took hashish and cocaine, thinking they were a short-cut to mystical illumination.”
11 January 2003
There’s a lengthy, remarkaby well-balanced and soberly researched article on Crowley and Cefalu in the online edition of Ha’aretz. Highly recommended reading!
10 January 2003
sf.indymedia.org has a substantial article (based on “The History of Wicca: 1939 – present day”, a talk given by Julia Phillips at the Wiccan Conference in Canberra, 1991) on the modern cult of wicca, including Crowley’s involvement with, for example, the writing of rituals for Gardner. Worth a read…
3 January 2003
As a dyed-in-the-wool admirer of the poetical works of Aleister Crowley, I was impressed by this online publication of his Clouds Without Water.
1 January 2003
In the last few days I received a copy of Kenneth Grant’s latest: “The Ninth Arch”. Superb production values from Starfire (well done, Michael!), this is a real credit to the unorthodox thinking of the author and is the final volume in the third of the Typhonian Trilogies. Highly recommended! (I got my copy from Ben Fernee at Caduceus Books.)
15 December 2002
There’s an unwelcome mention of Crowley in today’s News Of The World (UK) tabloid newspaper. Under the headline “Bamber Obsessed With Satan” it states that: “Warped killer Jeremy Bamber is hated by Britain’s toughest criminals because of his sick obsession with devil worship… He’s obsessed with dead Satanist Aleister Crowley. He got so many books on him and devil-worshipping from the library that he got the nickname The Devil.” Bamber, now 41, was given five life sentences for the murder of his mother, father, his step-sister and her two sons, in a killing spree at the family farmhouse home.
28 November 2002
Duncan Watson, compiler of the excellent Led Zeppelin “Bootleg” Access database, posted the following to one of the Zeppelin message lists: “This isn’t a hoax. After many years and sleepless nights and research the mystery of Jimmy Page’s symbol was finally revealed, and I’ve documented here: http://www.inthelight.co.nz/ledzep/zososymbol.htm”. It’s convincing, although we’d all like to see the alleged Spare sigil…
23 October 2002
As I write (0230 Wednesday 23 October 2002), UK television’s Channel 4 is screening a repeat of its intriguing Masters Of Darkness documentary: The Wickedest Man In The World. And, cable/satellite channel UK Horizons will be screening Scariest Places on Earth at 2300 on Halloween: “Thelema Abbey in Italy … the lair of occult master Aleister Crowley, and this programme takes a look at the secrets it holds.”
20 October 2002
In the UK, the BBC introduced its 100 Greatest Britons with a lengthy television programme. This fascinating compilation of potted biographies, presented by the increasingly bizarre Anne Robinson, included, at Number 73, one Aleister Crowley. A sequence of press cuttings and photographic protraits was displayed to backing music (Pink Floyd’s “Is There Anybody Out There”). AC’s surname was resolutely mispronounced and “Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law” was declared to the viewing millions. Overall, whimsical and cynical, but better than might have been expected. The Scotsman noted ‘the inclusion of the satanist Aleister Crowley, who became known as the “wickedest man in the world” for his drug-taking and womanising while living in a country house overlooking Loch Ness’.
4 October 2002
Unnoticed by many – well, by this web site at least! – Chris Marikian has released his low-budget drama documentary: Aleister! Searches online indicate that the film plays occasionally at arts and film festivals in America. The movie was produced by Unicow Films for Xiot Productions and certainly runs to less than one hour. Anyone out there seen it and care to report?
30 September 2002
The Kentucky (US) Department of Corrections has suspended formal satanic worship services at the Green River Correctional Complex while officials work to shape a statewide policy on the practice. Inmates at Green River, a medium-security prison in Central City, had been allowed to hold weekly satanic services this summer as part of the official religious services calendar, said Lisa Carnahan, a Corrections spokeswoman. “We honestly didn’t know it was on the religious calendar,” Carnahan said after the Lexington Herald-Leader questioned the practice.
24 September 2002
The latest UK edition of Maxim magazine includes a review of the newly-published paperback edition of Sandy Robertson’s excellent Aleister Crowley Scrapbook. The brief review is very positive about both AC and the book.
22 September 2002
New Falcon Press have announced the imminent publication of Perdurabo, a biography of Aleister Crowley by Richard Kaczynski. Their web site includes an illustration of the book’s cover.
16 September 2002
In a review of the album “Scorpio Rising” by “Death In Vegas”, The Sunday Times (London, 15 September 2002) states: “Asked to make a film for Death in Vegas’s new album, Kenneth Anger, the reclusive cult director, responded: ‘I haven’t even listened to your squalid little dirge.'” You tell ’em, Kenneth!
6 September 2002
Animal Sacrifice May Have Started Wildfire
PALMDALE, Calif. (AP) — “Fire investigators believe a destructive Southern California blaze was sparked by an animal sacrifice ritual. The fire has burned 16,000 acres and destroyed more than 70 buildings. It’s burning in the mountains above Azusa. The U.S. Forest Service said investigators concluded that people using candles associated with a ritual involving animal sacrifices started the fire. Further details aren’t available, and it’s not clear if any arrests have been made.”
30 August 2002
Salon.com recounts a tale of a visit from Slovenia to Cefalu, under the intriguing title of Been There, Smashed That. Their review of Carter’s “Sex And Rockets” biography of Jack Parsons is worth a read, here.
22 August 2002
Click here for some links relating to the minor controversy resulting from the inclusion of Crowley in the “100 Greatest Britons” list.
21 August 2002 A Great Briton
The BBC has nominated a list of “100 Greatest Britons Of All Time”. There, rubbing shoulders with Princess Diana, John Lennon, Winston Churchill, Isaac Newton and Tim Berners Lee, the father of the Internet, is a little known minor decadent poet: Aleister Crowley!
13 August 2002
Weiser Books have just published Aleister Crowley’s The General Principles of Astrology, following an extended delay. It’s a beautiful book, well worth the significant investment, and it constitutes the most important publication of Crowley material in several years. The introduction by Hymenaeus Beta is remarkable…
28 July 2002
“Jack the Ripper was not a serial sexual killer but an occultist called Robert Donston Stephenson who terrorised London’s East End while indulging in a sadistic form of Satanic worship.” So says yesterday’s UK Observer in a review of Ivor Edwards’ “Jack The Ripper’s Black Magic Rituals”. And who did Crowley suspect of being the killer? That’s right…
27 July 2002
If you haven’t yet listened to Tool then you’re missing an intriguing piece of musical Thelema. The band’s own website includes some fascinating references to Liber AL and Rennes le Chateau. Worth at least a few minutes of your time.
18 July 2002
Any holy book from an approved list may be placed on the altar during Masonic initiations within lodges working under the jurisdiction of the Grand Lodge of California.The Grand Lodge of California has now approved the sacred book of Aleister Crowley, “The Book of the Law”, on this list of approved books.
No word of a similar move by United Grand Lodge in England.
18 July 2002
Satanic bible gave me twisted ideas, says Son of Sam serial killer.
17 July 2002
Four Ukrainians held for cannibalism — “In what is believed to have been a Satanic ritual, the suspects killed the girl with two knife thrusts to the heart … Police found several books on black magic at the house of the one of the suspects.”
3 July 2002
“P Diddy is set to play legendary blues Satanist Robert Johnson in a forthcoming movie.” You don’t need me to mention that “P Diddy” – Puff Daddy – performed on that Godzilla song with Jimmy Page.
30 June 2002
lashtal.com has joined forces with Crowleyana to provide a Message Board to discuss all things Thelemic. Take a look, and let’s see if we can’t start to pool resources.
25 June 2002
The death has been announced of Benjamin Rowe, founder member of the Bate Cabal, contributor to The Cincinnati Journal Of Ceremonial Magick, and knowledgeable writer on matters Enochian.
24 June 2002
Robert Plant, from The Guardian (UK, 14 June 2002): ‘”Let’s set up a feast for the photograph,” he says as we sit down by the dining table. “We’ll put some cutlery out, light some candles, then get Jimmy Page over and do a black mass.”‘ And, from the same interview: “Sonny Johnson […] was the original blues singer to sell his soul to the devil – he did it five years before Robert Johnson had even thought about it and 30 years before us guys from middle England decided to sell our souls to the junkman.”
8 June 2002
Uncut (UK, July 2002) includes a lengthy article on Led Zeppelin. Jimmy Page’s interest in Crowley is given detailed coverage.
7 June 2002
The current issue of Fortean Times (FT160, July 2002) includes a obituary for Gerald Suster.
30 May 2002
Although not strictly connected with Thelema, I couldn’t resist including the following from The Guardian (UK, 29 May 2002): “[Jimmy] Page’s wardrobe is painted with symbolic animal portraits, quotations and weirdnesses. one side is a press, painted with opium poppies and scarlet hares, made to hold laudanum, the opiate to which the designer was addicted.”
28 May 2002
Issue Number 60 (June 2002) of the UK magazine Bizarre includes an article on “How To Start Your Own Sex Cult”, by Andy Cooper. Several mentions of Crowley and the Ordo Templi Orientis, and a bibliography of “Black Ground Reading”, which lists five books by AC and four by Kenneth Grant.
26 May 2002
At Ozzfest at Castle Donnington (UK) yesterday, three bands appeared with obvious Crowley connections: Cradle Of Filth, Tool and, of course, Ozzy Osborne himself: his rendition of “Mr Crowley”, accompanied by a choir of approximately 60,000 “stars”, was simply awesome…
21 May 2002
“Stephen Jay Gould, world-renowned scientist who brought evolutionary theory and paleontology to a broad public audience in dozens of wide-ranging books and essays, died Monday of cancer.”
20 May 2002
A fascinating resource here for those of us who consider ourselves to be collectors of Crowleyana.
11 May 2002
Just a reminder that it’s now a year since the death of the genius Douglas Adams, aged just 49…
9 May 2002
‘Circumstances indicate that the intellectual capabilities of a mate weighed more heavily with most men than they ever did with Crowley, who committed sodomy with a range of partners including a goat and two graduates of Trinity College, Cambridge.’ – The Guardian (UK) 28 April 2002 – review of Who’s Who in Hell by Robert Chalmers.
4 May 2002
Robert Anton Wilson and Aleister Crowley: “astrologically equivalent”. No comment…
1 May 2002
An article by Sex Pistols’ manager Malcolm Maclaren, in the Daily Telegraph (UK) in September 1999, about Led Zeppelin manager Peter Grant, stated: “[Jimmy Page’s] interest in the occult and the philosophy of Aleister Crowley led him to develop a new sound that transcended the purist approach of his English contemporaries in folk clubs.”
21 April 2002
Crowley gets a brief mention in today’s Sunday Times (UK) in a review of ALL THE DEVILS ARE HERE by David Seabrook (Granta £10 pp179): “J F C Fuller — high-ranking British army officer, distinguished military historian, and disciple of the black magician Aleister Crowley.”
14 April 2002
The Times (UK, 7 April 2002) reports that Winchester Cathedral “commissioned a daring new work” for Holy Week (Easter). “The dominant motif is a key with a nail fixed to it by blue surgical thread turning in an open wound. There are five images of wounds in all. These are projected digitally on to the west door of the cathedral. The images slowly change, morphing from one to the other over a period of 360 seconds. Meanwhile, alongside the wounds, lines from the 17th-century English poet Richard Crashaw are projected in a box on the right-hand lock.” In the article, the artist, Michael Clark, cites Crowley as one of his influences.
12 April 2002
Here’s an article – No Rest For The Wicked – from the Daily Telegraph (UK) back in 1998, celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of the death of Aleister Crowley. Although not recent, it’s certainly well worth a read, published as it was in one of the most conservative British newspapers. A remarkable article with an amusing final paragraph: “Aleister Crowley can now be seen, in short, as part of a long line of magnificent British eccentrics and amateurs. And if I fall underneath a lorry immediately after filing this article, it will be no more than an odd coincidence.”
11 April 2002
The Independent (UK) presented an article back in May of last year about the “International Porter Protection Group” and referred to Crowley’s alleged callous mistreatment of porters on Kangchenjunga: “The infamous Aleister Crowley sat sipping tea in his camp on Kangchenjunga rather than go to the aid of three of his expedition porters and a Swiss climber buried beneath an avalanche.” Click here for more on Kangchenjunga.
10 April 2002
Now is an appropriate time to remind visitors that this site is intended to provide a non-partisan and non-judgemental source of information relating to Thelema, especially news of Thelemic culture. The webmaster is a serious researcher of Thelemic matters and has been a student of the written and pictorial works of Aleister Crowley and associated individuals since 1976. It would be inappropriate, however, to make any assumptions in respect of the religious and spiritual beliefs of those connected with the design and content of lashtal.com.
8 April 2002
Walter Duranty – a name that will be familiar to students of Crowley’s life – got the biographical treatment in 1990 in “Stalin’s Apologist : Walter Duranty : The New York Times Man in Moscow” by S J Taylor. There’s an interesting review of the book online…
7 April 2002
Star Wars as Thelemic document; George Lucas a follower of Crowley… Fascinating! Remarkable what you can find on the Newsgroups these days…
26 March 2002
The Guardian Unlimited website reports that Kenneth Anger is preparing to film the Gnostic Mass for $50,000,000. Apparently backed by Sir John Paul Getty, Dennis Hopper is mentioned as a potential actor in it… A potentially highly-significant Thelemic development.
22 March 2002
Today’s Daily Telegraph (London) newspaper presents the most disturbing article on the Satanic Ritual Abuse nonsense in a long time – The people who believe that Satanists might eat your baby (article by: Damian Thompson). Should be compulsory reading, especially by those of us who are not Satanists but who hold unorthodox beliefs…
13 March 2002
Just released — and reviewed by Charles Shaar Murray in yesterday’s (UK) The Independent — is “American Scream: The Bill Hicks Story”, by Cynthia True. one of the finest comedians ever, Bill encapsulated for many the Thelemic lifestyle and libertarian attitudes. He celebrated his Great Feast some eight years ago, but his comedy remains as fresh as ever…
10 March 2002
From “The Scotsman” newspaper (8 February 2002): Loch Ness hotelier dies. A hotelier who bought the house where Satanist Aleister Crowley practised black magic has died with his sense of humour preserved to the end. Ronald MacGillivray raised eyebrows ten years ago when he paid £250,000 for Boleskine House, the country home at Loch Ness where Crowley summoned evil spirits. Relatives said he died on Tuesday after a terminal illness “borne with courage and humour, supported and sustained by a loyal family, friends, neighbours, doctors, nurses and Glenfiddich”.
10 March 2002
Tight But Loose – the web’s best site about history’s best musicians, Led Zeppelin – includes a story about Jimmy “the Master” Page performing for pupils at a charity event at Epson College (UK). Includes the following, which made me chuckle: Father Paul Thompson, Senior Chaplain at Epsom College said: “Jimmy … is a lovely, generous and kind-hearted man.”
9 March 2002
The Guardian (UK, 20 February 2002) presented a witty review of the Channel 4 Crowley documentary.
5 March 2002
Channel 4’s ‘Masters Of Darkness’ series concluded this evening with perhaps the best programme of the lot: Dr John Dee. Less emphasis on flashy graphics than previous instalments; music by Coil. The programme was followed by the promised web chat, which was as confusing and unfulfilling as these things tend to be. Nothing of any great interest, though “Aron Paramor” did suggest that Aleister Ataturk died “last month”. Whether this is true or not, I don’t know, although Koenig’s site indicates that he passed away back in 1978…
27 February 2002
According to Channel 4’s “Masters Of Darkness” web site, “Aron Paramor”, one of the individuals responsible for the Crowley (“Wickedest Man In The World”) programme, will be available online for a webchat on Tuesday 5 March at 10pm. Visit the Channel 4 site for further details… Speaking of Channel 4, their site now links to this one… The Channel 4 site has an impressive essay by Gavin Baddeley about Dr John Dee.
26 February 2002
The Wicker Man has been announced for April 2002 release in the UK — the finest vaguely Thelemic movie ever made.
24 February 2002
Added a review of The Beast Demystified by Roger Hutchinson from the Daily Mail back in 1998.
23 February 2002
There’s a surprising amount of “fall-out” resulting from the Channel 4 documentary. A search of newsgroups at google.com shows that the programme has generated a lot of coment and discussion. Very few newspapers carried reviews of it, though.
20 February 2002
Well, the Channel 4 documentary has just finished broadcasting. Verdict? Nice graphics; Berkoff reading Crowley was good. Why did they mess up the editing of Crowley’s spoken-word sections? Where were the real Crowley experts?
19 February 2002
A friend has drawn my attention to a brief article in The Guardian (UK) from July 2001 which refers to a “short film” about Aleister Crowley.
17 February 2002
More photographs and articles in the UK national newspapers as we approach the broadcasting of the Channel 4 documentary. Most references tread the safety ground of sceptical ridicule, though some are slightly more positive. As an example of the latter I’ve made available a scan of an article in today’s “Sunday Times” (London). In case the text is difficult to read on small monitors, the text is available here. A correspondent – Frater JF – has supplied half-a-dozen portraits of Crowley which may be of interest.
10 February 2002
Rosemary Woodruff Leary — Timothy Leary’s wife — died on February 7 at her home.