Aleister Crowley and the Temptation of Politics

The figure of Aleister Crowley (1875-1947) is one of the most important authors in the history of modern western esotericism. A prolific and eclectic author, he wrote novels, poetry, essays, and, above all, developed in his many writings his personal magico-religious doctrine. During his life he had the opportunity to meet, and at times to influence, a considerable number of figures in the most various milieus. This volume contains a study of Crowley's relationship with the politics of his times, a crucial issue in order to understand the importance and the influence of his work. Crowley, educated in the late Victorian age, shows many of the contradictions of this period. The search for an alternative way to express his religious feelings lead him to elaborate his own vision of political and social radical change. He announced a new era echoing the ideal of a new man proposed by the totalitarian regimes and the radical politics of his times, and at the same time anticipated some ideas made fashionable today by the New Age spirituality. The book follows the steps of Crowleys intellectual development on the basis of the enormous corpus of published writings, but also through the analysis of numerous unpublished documents.