History Creator / AleisterCrowley

* Much of the deeper and more arcane lore from the Franchise/TheElderScrolls series in general and VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind in particular (i.e., pretty much anything written by Creator/MichaelKirkbride) draws its inspiration from, among ''many'' other things, Crowley's writings and re-interpretations thereof. As Vivec himself says in the first sermon of his [[http://www.newwhirlingschool.com/ [in]famously cryptic]] ''[[http://en.uesp.net/wiki/Morrowind:The_36_Lessons_of_Vivec 36 Lessons]]'', "For I have crushed a world with my left hand, [but] in my right hand is how it could have won against me. Love is under my will only."

* He appears in ''Series/{{Pennyworth}}'', played by Jonjo O'Neill. He's still alive in the 1960s, as the series is very much AlternateHistory, and Martha Kane ([[Franchise/{{Batman}} Bruce Wayne]]'s future mother) is brought to a ''very'' strange party of his.

Furthermore, Thelema does not draw the ordinary distinction between an individual and God: [[AGodIsYou "Every man and every woman is a star"]]. Therefore, love (when done under will) is the assimilation of experience in accordance with the intrinsically divine nature of an individual; the act of progressively becoming one with one's own divine star. In conclusion, while the man did like to portray himself as a [[DepravedBisexual libertine]] and an [[AnythingThatMoves "anything that moves"]] type (see also the note about [[SexMagic sex magic]] below), the most famous quote of his work is ''not'' indicative of that and represents him at his most sober and philosophical. [[MindScrew Probably]].[[/note]]

Furthermore, Thelema does not draw the ordinary distinction between an individual and God: "Every man and every woman is a star". Therefore, love (when done under will) is the assimilation of experience in accordance with the intrinsically divine nature of an individual; the act of progressively becoming one with one's own divine star. In conclusion, while the man did like to portray himself as a [[DepravedBisexual libertine]] and an [[AnythingThatMoves "anything that moves"]] type (see also the note about [[SexMagic sex magic]] below), the most famous quote of his work is ''not'' indicative of that and represents him at his most sober and philosophical. [[MindScrew Probably]].[[/note]]

* He appears in the ''Literature/DiogenesClub'' story "Angel Down, Sussex", where he becomes a dangerous influence on a [[ChangelingTale changeling]] who shifts to suit what others want her to be - and he wants her to be his Anti-Christine. Edwin Winthrop realises that part of his power is that he appears completely ridiculous, right up until [[BewareTheSillyOnes he doesn't]].

%% * GuardianEntity: The AscendedDemon Aiwass.
%% * HermeticMagic: Could very well qualify as the trope codifier.

%% * OurAngelsAreDifferent: His idea of an Angel? [[ShmuckBait Don't look it up. Don't]].
%% * PurpleProse: ''[[ExaggeratedTrope In pages and pages.]]''

* UnfortunateImplications: For all that his followers have tried to explain away and contextualize his racism and antisemitism, it's right there in plain sight in his writings. Amongst other things, he believed in the Blood Libel.
%% * UnreliableNarrator

%% * Frequently appears in the works of Creator/RobertAntonWilson, most prominently in ''Masks of the Illuminati''.

* Doesn't appear but is briefly mentioned in ''VisualNovel/DiesIrae, Interview with Kaziklu Bey'' as one of only three known true magicians still alive in the world.

* Often appears in the works of Creator/AlanMoore and Creator/GrantMorrison - notably ''ComicBook/{{Promethea}}'', ''ComicBook/FromHell'' and ''ComicBook/ArkhamAsylumASeriousHouseOnSeriousEarth''. Moore used a fictitious counterpart, Oliver Haddo, as the central antagonist for the plot of ''ComicBook/TheLeagueOfExtraordinaryGentlemen Volume 3: Century'' (Haddo being the central character from W. Somerset Maugham's ''The Magician'', a book which Crowley later criticized using Haddo's name as a pseudonym).

* W. Somerset Maugham based Oliver Haddo, the villain of his novel ''The Magician'', on Crowley, a contemporary of his. Haddo [[PublicDomainCharacter reappears]] as the villain of ''Comicbook/TheLeagueOfExtraordinaryGentlemen Volume [=III=]: Century'' with even more specifically Crowleyan associations.

* Often appears in the works of Creator/AlanMoore and Creator/GrantMorrison - notably ''ComicBook/{{Promethea}}'', ''ComicBook/FromHell'' and ''ComicBook/ArkhamAsylumASeriousHouseOnSeriousEarth''.

* UnfortunateImplications: For all that his followers have tried to explain away and contextualize his racism and anti-Semitism, it's right there in plain sight in his writings. Amongst other things, he believed in the Blood Libel.

* UnfortunateImplications: For all that his followers have tried to explain away and contextualize his racism and anti-semitism, it's right there in plain sight in his writings. Amongst other things, he believes in the Blood Libel.

* Much of the deeper and more arcane lore from the Franchise/TheElderScrolls series in general and VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind in particular (i.e., pretty much anything written by Creator/MichaelKirkbride) draws its inspiration from, among ''many'' other things, Crowley's writings and re-interpretations thereof. As Vivec himself says in the first sermon of his [[http://www.newwhirlingschool.com/ [in]famously cryptic]] ''[[http://en.uesp.net/wiki/Morrowind:The_36_Lessons_of_Vivec 36 Lessons]]'', "For I have crushed a world with my left hand, but in my right hand is how it could have won against me. Love is under my will only."

* Much of the deeper and more arcane lore from the Franchise/TheElderScrolls series in general and VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind in particular (i.e., pretty much anything written by Creator/MichaelKirkbride) draws its inspiration from, among ''many'' other things, Crowley's writings and re-interpretations thereof. As Vivec himself says in the first sermon of his famously cryptic ''36 Lessons'', "For I have crushed a world with my left hand, but in my right hand is how it could have won against me. Love is under my will only."

Aleister Crowley (12 October 1875 – 1 December 1947), born Edward Alexander Crowley, was an influential English occultist, provocateur, hedonist, mountaineer, chess player, mystic, writer, and artist dubbed "The Wickedest Man in the World". His motto was "Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law; love is the law, love under will." [[note]]It should be noted that the apparent literal meaning of this is a bit misleading; Crowley was referring to a concept he called True Will, which could be summarised as an individual's true purpose in life. He wasn't saying people should indulge whatever whims occurred to them on a momentary basis; he was saying an individual's true purpose – "what thou wilt", in other words – should, alongside love, override all other considerations in life.[[/note]]

[[caption-width-right:310:The ''other'' "Music/{{Weird Al|Yankovic}}."]]

* The occultist Roderick Burgess from ''ComicBook/TheSandman'' is clearly based on Crowley, however an offhand line from Burgess [[ExoyCoexistence seems to establish that Crowley is a hated and more successful rival to Burgess]].

* Muisc/OzzyOsbourne's "Mr. Crowley". Despite arousing the wrath of MoralGuardians, it's actually a very ambivalent and slyly humorous song, based around the protagonist's bemusement about whether Crowley was a genuine spiritual adept, a trolling charlatan, or both.

Aleister Crowley (12 October 1875 – 1 December 1947), born Edward Alexander Crowley, was an influential English occultist, provocateur, hedonist, mystic, mountaineer, chess player, writer, and artist dubbed "The Wickedest Man in the World". His motto was "Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law; love is the law, love under will." [[note]]It should be noted that the apparent literal meaning of this is a bit misleading; Crowley was referring to a concept he called True Will, which could be summarised as an individual's true purpose in life. He wasn't saying people should indulge whatever whims occurred to them on a momentary basis; he was saying an individual's true purpose – "what thou wilt", in other words – should, alongside love, override all other considerations in life.[[/note]]

Aleister Crowley (12 October 1875 – 1 December 1947), born Edward Alexander Crowley, was an influential English occultist, provocateur, hedonist, mountaineer, chess player, and artist dubbed "The Wickedest Man in the World". His motto was "Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law; love is the law, love under will." [[note]]It should be noted that the apparent literal meaning of this is a bit misleading; Crowley was referring to a concept he called True Will, which could be summarised as an individual's true purpose in life. He wasn't saying people should indulge whatever whims occurred to them on a momentary basis; he was saying an individual's true purpose – "what thou wilt", in other words – should, alongside love, override all other considerations in life.[[/note]]

Aleister Crowley (12 October 1875 – 1 December 1947), born Edward Alexander Crowley, was an influential English occultist, provocateur, hedonist, mountaineer, chess player, and artist dubbed "The Wickedest Man in the World". His motto was "Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law; love is the law, love under will."[[note]]It should be noted that the apparent literal meaning of this is a bit misleading; Crowley was referring to a concept he called True Will, which could be summarised as an individual's true purpose in life. He wasn't saying people should indulge whatever whims occurred to them on a momentary basis; he was saying an individual's true purpose – "what thou wilt", in other words – should, alongside love, override all other considerations in life.[[/note]]

Aleister Crowley (12 October 1875 – 1 December 1947), born Edward Alexander Crowley, was an influential English occultist, provocateur, hedonist, mountaineer, chess player, and artist dubbed "The Wickedest Man in the World". His motto was "Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law; love is the law, love under will." [[note]]It should be noted that the apparent literal meaning of this is a bit misleading; Crowley was referring to a concept he called True Will, which could be summarised as an individual's true purpose in life. He wasn't saying people should indulge whatever whims occurred to them on a momentary basis; he was saying an individual's true purpose – "what thou wilt", in other words – should, alongside love, override all other considerations in life.[[/note]]

Aleister Crowley (12 October 1875 – 1 December 1947), born Edward Alexander Crowley, was an influential English occultist, provocateur, hedonist, mountaineer, chess player, and artist dubbed "The Wickedest Man in the World". His motto was "Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law; love is the law, love under will." (It should be noted that the apparent literal meaning of this is a bit misleading: Crowley was referring to a concept he called True Will, which could be summarised as an individual's true purpose in life. He wasn't saying people should indulge whatever whims occurred to them on a momentary basis; he was saying an individual's true purpose - "what thou wilt", in other words - should, alongside love, override all other considerations in life.) He is known for his occult writing and drug experimentation. Also noted for appearing on the cover of Music/TheBeatles' ''[[Music/SgtPeppersLonelyHeartsClubBand Sergeant Pepper]]'' album, drawing the interest of [[Music/LedZeppelin Jimmy Page]], and being the subject of the Music/OzzyOsbourne song "Mr. Crowley." Not to be confused with [[Literature/GoodOmens Anthony J. Crowley]]. He ended at #73 in ''Series/OneHundredGreatestBritons''.