Magia Sexualis: Sex, Magic, and Liberation in Modern Western Esotericism

4. The Beast with Two Backs: Aleister Crowley and Sex Magick in Late Victorian England

4 The Beast with Two Backs Aleister Crowley and Sex Magick in Late Victorian England The whole trouble comes from humanity’s horror of Love. For the last hundred years, every first-rate writer on morals has sent forth his lightnings and thunders, hailstones and coals of fire, to burn up Gomorrah and Sodom where Love is either shameful and secret or daubed with dug and sentiment. aleister crowley, The Law Is for All The point about Crowley is that he seems to contain all these sorts of ideas and identities—indeed, most of the vices of the twentieth century—and he was dead at the end of 1947. snoo wilson, author of the play “The Beast” (in Sutin, Do What Thou Wilt) If there is one figure with whom the practice of sex magic is generally associated in the modern imagination, it is surely Aleister Crowley (1875– 1947). Known in the popular press as “the wickedest man in the world,” and proclaiming himself the “Great Beast 666,” Crowley was the object of media scandal, moral outrage, and titillating allure throughout his life. In the years since his death, he has become better known as one of the most important influences on the modern revival of magic and witchcraft. Yet, despite his importance, Crowley has been largely ignored by scholars of religion . In most cases he has been dismissed as, at best, a pathetic charlatan and,at worst,a sadistic pervert and a ridiculous crank.Most scholars ofWestern esotericism, such as Antoine Faivre, make only passing reference to Crowley,while leading scholars of New Age religions such asWouter Hanegraaff give him only the briefest mention.1 Perhaps the primary reason for this neglect of Crowley—and also for the scandal and titillation that surrounded him—was his practice of sexual magic (or magick,to use Crowley’s spelling).2 Rejecting the prudish hypocrisy of the Victorian world in which he was raised, Crowley identified sex as the most powerful force in life and the supreme source of magical power. Taking an apparent delight in outraging the British society of his time,Crowley made explicit use of the most “deviant” sexual acts, such as masturbation 109 and homosexuality, as central components in his magical practice. Not surprisingly , he soon became a favorite target of the popular press of the early twentieth century. As various papers described him, he was known for his “criminal excesses and revolting debauchery,” his “cesspool of vice,” which included “blasphemous and bestial ceremonies—or orgies”3 and amounted tonothingmorethana“symposiumofobscenity,blasphemy,andindecency.”4 In one of the more entertaining accounts of the Beast,My Life in a Love Cult: A Warning to All Young Girls, Crowley is portrayed as a Sadistic Satanist whose main philosophy is “All is evil. Evil is right. Let evil prevail!”5 In this chapter, I will suggest that Crowley is a figure of far more interest than the mere hedonistic sex fiend portrayed by the popular media. Indeed, he is a fascinating figure worthy of attention by scholars of religion and of profound importance for the understanding of modern society as a whole. This importance is threefold. First, with his radical rejection of Victorian morality and his emphasis on sex as the supreme source of magical 110 / The Beast with Two Backs Figure 8. Aleister Crowley. Courtesy of Ordo Templi Orientis. power, Crowley is a remarkable reflection of his era and of the sexual attitudes of late Victorian England.6 Second, with his study of Hinduism and Buddhism, he was a key figure in the transmission of Indian traditions to the West, including the controversial traditions of Tantra. Finally, in part because of this incorporation of Eastern traditions, Crowley has also been one of the most influential figures in the revival of magic and a variety of alternative religions at the turn of the new millennium. By the late nineteenth century, as we saw in the last chapter, the two currents of Western sexual magic and somewhat mutilated forms of Indian Tantra had begun to mingle, fuse, and often become hopelessly confused. Crowley in many ways represents the culmination of this (con)fusion of Tantra and sexual magic. As John Symonds remarks, “His greatest merit was to make the bridge between Tantrism and the Western esoteric tradition and thus bring together Western and Eastern magical techniques.”7 Yet ironically, Crowley seems to have known little more...