Aleister Crowley (1875-1947)
- Crowley was a multitalented English major who wrote numerous works on various forms of occultism.
- He was a member of several societies such as the Freemasons, the Ordo Templi Orientis, and the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn.
- His contributions to the history of astrology are usually overlooked and believed to be negligible because he didn’t publish any major works on the subject under his name, and his various occult works only contain scarce bits of astrological symbolism.
- His influence may indeed be far greater than was previously thought though, because it appears that Crowley was the ghostwriter for two books that were published by another major American astrologer named Evangeline Adams. Adams and Crowley first met in 1916 and discussed the project, and for a brief period of time they had an affair together, but then after the relationship ended, the project to write the books was halted, although Adams kept Crowley’s manuscripts. Adams eventually incorporated Crowley’s work with her own and published the books under the titles Astrology, Your Place In The Sun (1927), and Astrology, Your Place Among The Stars (1930), but there was never any mention of Crowley in them, and he held a grudge against Adams for not paying him for his work.
- In 1990 the Ordo Templi Orientis bought the rights to Astrology, Your Place In The Sun, and Astrology, Your Place Among The Stars from Mrs. Adams estate and republished them under the title The General Principles of Astrology by Aleister Crowley and Evangeline Adams, thus finally giving Crowley credit for his work.
- The work itself is actually an interesting mix of Modern and ‘Traditional’ astrology, and further research is needed in this area in order to determine the full extent of Crowley’s effect on 20th century astrology. In light of these recent developments it is likely that his influence was quite substantial due to Adams popularity as one of the more prominent astrological figures of the early 20th century.
Further Reading
J. Edward Cornelius, Evangeline Adams: A Biographical Sketch of a Friend and Acquaintance of Aleister Crowley, http://www.redflame93.com/Adams.html, 2001.
