Aleister Crowley - Without Walls Documentary

Aleister Crowley, original name Edward Alexander Crowley, (born October 12, 1875, Royal Leamington Spa, England—died December 1, 1947, Hastings), British occultist, writer, and mountaineer, who was a practitioner of “magick” (as he spelled it) and called himself the Beast 666. He was denounced in his own time for his decadent lifestyle and had few followers, but he became a cult figure after his death.

Crowley’s father was an heir to a brewing fortune who became an evangelist for the Plymouth Brethren, a Nonconformist religious denomination. The younger Crowley, however, formed an aversion to Christianity early in life. As a student at Trinity College, University of Cambridge, he began to use the name Aleister and gained a reputation for skill at chess. In 1898 he left the university without taking a degree. His own inheritance left him free to travel widely and to arrange for the publication of his writings. His first book of poetry appeared in 1898, and numerous books followed.

As a mountaineer, Crowley honed his skills on cliffs in Great Britain before taking part in pioneering attempts to climb Earth’s second- and third-highest mountains, K2 and Kanchenjunga. The K2 expedition of 1902 reached an elevation of 18,600 feet (5,670 metres), while the Kanchenjunga expedition three years later was marred by tragedy when four of Crowley’s fellow climbers were killed in an avalanche. It was said that Crowley, who had advised them against taking the fatal route, ignored cries for help from the survivors of the accident.