Aleister Crowley and T.S. Eliot had but a few things in common - one of them was inspiration by The Golden Bough of J.G. Frazer, the monumental study of the origins of Magic and Religion. Frazer's influence was immense and it changed the way ordinary people felt about their lives. This collection of eight compelling tales intensely dramatize themes drawn from The Golden Bough, from the ancient legend of the sacred oak of Nemi to Satanism in modern France. Like Poe's short stories, magic, murder and mystery are woven together into stories you won't forget. Written in America during the First World War, these creative re-tellings of folklore and legend are collected here for the first time, edited and annotated by Martin P. Starr, a scholar of Crowley's life and works. Illustrated with a previously unpublished portrait of Crowley by Arnold Genthe.
Author
Writings of British mystic Aleister Crowley on occult practices influenced the development of Neopaganism, various religious movements that arose chiefly in the United Kingdom and the United States in the late 1900s and that combine worship of pagan nature deities, particularly of the earth, with benign witchcraft. Born Edward Alexander Crowley, this mountaineer, philosopher, and poet joined as an member in several organizations, including the Golden Dawn, the A∴A∴, and Ordo Templi Orientis (O.T.O.), and people best know today especially his The Book of the Law , the central sacred text of Thelema. Infamously dubbed "the wickedest man in the World," he gained much notoriety during his lifetime. Crowley additionally played chess, painted, experimented with drugs, criticized society and practiced astrology, hedonism, bisexuality. Crowley also claimed a Freemason, but people dispute the regularity of his initiations with the United Grand Lodge of England. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleiste...
