Aleister Crowley (/ˈkroʊli/ kroh-lee; 12 October 1875 1 December 1947),
born Edward Alexander Crowley, and also known as both Frater Perdurabo and The Great Beast 666, was an
English occultist, mystic, ceremonial magician, poet and mountaineer, who was responsible for founding the religious philosophy of Thelema. In his role as the founder of the Thelemite philosophy, he came to see himself as the prophet who was entrusted with informing humanity that it was entering the new Aeon of Horus in the early 20th century.
Crowley was also bisexual, a recreational drug experimenter and a social critic. In many of these roles
he "was in revolt against the moral and religious values of his time", espousing a
form of libertinism based upon the rule of "Do What Thou Wilt".[1] Because of this, he gained widespread notoriety during his lifetime, and was denounced in the popular press of the day as "the wickedest man in the world"
Aleister Crowley - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia