Thelema is a philosophical and mystical system founded by Aleister Crowley early in the 20th century. This is a list of Thelemites, self-professed adherents of Thelema (including those who identified as Thelemites during part of their lives but subsequently left the faith) who have Wikipedia articles. These individuals come from diverse backgrounds, including artists, writers, occultists, scientists, musicians, and more, hailing from countries such as the United States, England, Canada, Germany, Australia, and Brazil.
A
edit- Kenneth Anger (1927-2023), American underground experimental filmmaker, actor, and writer.[1][2]
B
edit- Frank Bennett (1868–1930), Australian chemist.[3]
- William Breeze (b. 1955), American writer and musician.[4]
- Mary Butts (1890–1937), English modernist writer.[5]
C
edit- Marjorie Cameron (1922–1995), American artist, poet, actress and occultist.[6]
- Barbara Canright (1919–1997), American human computer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, member of Agape Lodge.[7][8]
- Aleister Crowley (1875–1947), English occultist, ceremonial magician, writer, and founder of Thelema.
D
edit- Lon Milo DuQuette (b. 1948), American writer, lecturer, musician, and occultist.[9] He is also a National and International governing officer of the Thelemic organization Ordo Templi Orientis.[10]
E
edit- Sally Eaton (b. 1947), American Wiccan high priestess, liturgist, singer and actress.[11]
F
edit- Jeanne Robert Foster (1879–1970), one of Crowley's "Scarlet Women" who took the magical name Sister Hilarion.[12]
- J. F. C. Fuller (1878–1966), Major-General in the British Army, military historian, and strategist.[13]
G
edit- Peaches Geldof (1989–2014), English columnist, television personality, and model.[14]
- Karl Germer (1885-1962), German and American businessman and occultist, O.H.O. of O.T.O. (1947–1962).[15]
- Kenneth Grant (1924–2011), English ceremonial magician and advocate of Thelema.[16]
H
edit- Lady Frieda Harris (1877–1962), English artist known for her design of Crowley's Thoth Tarot.[17]
- Leah Hirsig (1883–1975), American schoolteacher and occultist, most famous of Crowley's Scarlet Women.[18]
- L. Ron Hubbard (1911–1986) American author and founder of the religion Scientology. Was briefly involved with Thelema and collaborated with Jack Parsons on a Thelemic ritual before founding his own religion.[19]
- Christopher Hyatt (1943–2008), American psychologist, occultist, and writer.[20][21]
J
edit- Charles Stansfeld Jones (1886–1950), Canadian occultist and ceremonial magician.[22]
- George Cecil Jones (1873–1960), English chemist, occultist, Golden Dawn member and co-founder of the A∴A∴.[23]
K
edit- Richard Kaczynski (b. 1963), American occult writer and psychologist.[24]
L
edit- James Lees (1939–2015), English magician known for English Qaballa.[25]
M
edit- Grady Louis McMurtry (1918–1985), American ceremonial magician and "Caliph" of O.T.O.[26]
- Marcelo Ramos Motta (1931–1987), Brazilian occult writer and member of A∴A∴[27]
N
edit- Nema Andahadna (1939–2018), American occultist, ceremonial magician, and writer about the Ma'atian current.[28]
- Victor Neuburg (1883–1940), English poet and writer.[13]
- Noname Jane, American pornographic actress.[29]
- Eric Nord (born Harry Helmuth Pastor; 1919–1989), American Beat Generation coffeehouse and nightclub owner, poet, actor, and hipster, the "King of the Beatniks".[30]
- Sara Northrup Hollister (1924–1997), American occultist and second wife of Scientologist founder L. Ron Hubbard.[31]
P
edit- Jack Parsons (1914–1952), American rocket engineer, chemist, and occultist.[32][33]
- Helen Parsons Smith (1910-2003), American occultist and book editor, wife of John "Jack" Whiteside Parsons who married Wilfred Talbot Smith after Parson's death.[34]
R
edit- C. F. Russell (1897–1987), American occultist and founder of the magical order G.B.G.[35]
S
edit- Phyllis Seckler (1917–2004), American occultist and writer, and a lineage holder in the A∴A∴ tradition.[36]
- Harry Everett Smith (1923–1991), American polymath, artist, experimental filmmaker, bohemian, mystic, record collector, hoarder, student of anthropology and Neo-Gnostic bishop.[37]
- Wilfred Talbot Smith (1885–1957), English occultist and ceremonial magician.[38]
W
edit- Leila Waddell (1880–1932), Australian violinist who became a Scarlet Woman of Aleister Crowley.[39]
- James Wasserman (1948–2020), American writer and occultist.[40][41]
- Sam Webster, American writer, publisher, co-founder of the Chthonic Auranian Templars of Thelema and OSOGD.[42]
- Jane Wolfe (1875–1958), American silent film character actress.[43]
Former Thelemites
edit- Augustus Sol Invictus (b. 1983), American far-right political activist, attorney, blogger, and white nationalist.[44] He has subsequently claimed to have reverted to Catholicism in 2022.[45]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Anger, Kenneth (July 22, 2013). "Keneth Anger: how I made Lucifer Rising". www.theguardian.com. Retrieved February 13, 2021.
- ^ Represa, Marta (April 22, 2014). "Kenneth Anger on the Occult". www.anothermag.com. Retrieved March 13, 2021.
- ^ Richmond, Keith (2004). Progradior and the Beast. Neptune Press. pp. 99–100, 145. ISBN 978-0954706340.
- ^ Flood, Alison (2015-10-15). "Unseen Aleister Crowley writings reveal 'short-story writer of the highest order'". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2017-11-09.
- ^ Booth, Martin (2001). A Magick Life: A Biography of Aleister Crowley. London: Hodder and Stoughton. pp. 375–76. ISBN 0-340-71806-4.
- ^ Kansa, Spencer (2011). Wormwood Star: The Magickal Life of Marjorie Cameron. Oxford: Mandrake. pp. 75–77, 247. ISBN 978-1-906958-08-4.
- ^ Starr (2003), p. 365.
- ^ Holt, Nathalia (June 2016). "The Women Behind the Jet Propulsion Laboratory". The Atlantic.
- ^ DuQuette, Lon Milo (1999). My Life With The Spirits: The Adventures of a Modern Magician. Red Wheel/Weiser. ISBN 1-57863-120-3.
- ^ Agape 1.3 (PDF), retrieved 2010-11-29
- ^ Rabinovitch, Shelley; Lewis, James. The Encyclopedia of Modern Witchcraft and Neo-paganism. p. 27.
- ^ Churton, Tobias (2017). Aleister Crowley in America: Art, Espionage, and Sex Magick in the New World. Inner Traditions/Bear. p. 240. ISBN 978-1-62055-631-3.
- ^ a b Kaczynski (2024).
- ^ "Peaches Geldof has signed up to Aleister Crowley's sex cult OTO". April 15, 2013. Retrieved 2024-03-13.
- ^ Starr (2003), p. 127.
- ^ Starr (2003), p. 324.
- ^ Symonds, John (1973). The Great Beast: The Life and Magick of Aleister Crowley. St Albans, Herts.: Mayflower. ISBN 978-0583121958.
- ^ Sutin, Lawrence (2000). Do What Thou Wilt: A Life of Aleister Crowley. New York: St. Martin's Griffin. p. 330.
- ^ Urban, Hugh (2006). Magia sexualis: Sex, magic, and liberation in modern Western esotericism. University of California Press. p. 137. ISBN 9780520932883.
- ^ Hyatt, Christopher; Aloim, Zehm. The Magic of Israel Regardie. New Falcon Publishing. ISBN 1-56184-230-3.
- ^ Greer, John Michael (2003). The New Encyclopedia of the Occult. Llewellyn Worldwide. p. 205. ISBN 978-1-56718-336-8.
- ^ Starr (2003).
- ^ Eshelman, James A. (2000). The Mystical & Magical System of the A A: The Spiritual System of Aleister Crowley & George Cecil Jones Step-by-step. College of Thelema. ISBN 978-0970449603.
- ^ Shoemaker, David (2022). Living Thelema: A Practical Guide to Attainment in Aleister Crowley's System of Magick. Red Wheel/Weiser. p. 271. ISBN 978-1578637799.
- ^ Thompson, Cath (2018). All This and a Book. Hadean Press Limited. ISBN 978-1-907881-78-7.
- ^ Hanegraaff, Wouter J.; Faivre, Antoine; Broek, Roelof van den; Brach, Jean-Pierre (2005). Dictionary of Gnosis and Western Esotericism (Online ed.). Leiden: Brill. ISBN 9789004141872. Retrieved 11 August 2018.
- ^ Readdy (2018), pp. ii–iii, 156–304.
- ^ Grant (1980).
- ^ "Official bio". Noname Jane's Official Site. Archived from the original on March 28, 2012. Retrieved 2012-06-12.
- ^ Starr (2003), p. 250.
- ^ Pendle, George (2006). Strange Angel: The Otherworldly Life of Rocket Scientist John Whiteside Parsons. Orlando, FL: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. p. 203–4. ISBN 978-0-15-603179-0.
- ^ Beta, Hymenaeus (2008). "Foreword" to Three Essays on Freedom (J.W. Parsons). York Beach, Maine: Teitan Press. pp. x–xi. ISBN 978-0-933429-11-6.
- ^ Parsons, John Whiteside (2008). Three Essays on Freedom. York Beach, Maine: Teitan Press. p. 67. ISBN 978-0-933429-11-6.
- ^ Starr (2003), p. 276.
- ^ Starr (2003), p. 77.
- ^ Readdy (2018), pp. 157–300.
- ^ Ed Sanders, biographical essay in Liner Notes to Harry Smith's Anthology of American Folk Music, Volume 4, Revenant RVM 211 (2000).
- ^ Starr (2003), pp. 12–17.
- ^ Cantú, K. E. (2023). Like a Tree Universally Spread: Sri Sabhapati Swami and Śivarājayoga. Oxford University Press. p. 383, n. 74. ISBN 978-0197665473.
- ^ "Tahuti Lodge O.T.O., serving the New York City Metropolitan Area". Tahutilodge.org. Tahuti Lodge, Ordo Templi Orientis. 2009. Archived from the original on November 23, 2011. Retrieved November 22, 2011.
- ^ Wasserman, James (2012). In the Center of the Fire: A Memoir of the Occult 1966-1989. Lake Worth, FL: Ibis Press. p. 187. ISBN 978-0-89254-201-7.
- ^ Wicker, Christine (2005). Not In Kansas Anymore: A Curious Tale of How Magic Is Transforming America. HarperSanFrancisco. pp. 207–236. ISBN 0-06-072678-4.
- ^ Wolfe, Jane (2008). Jane Wolfe: The Cefalu Diaries 1920 - 1923. Temple of the Silver Star. ISBN 978-0997668636.
- ^ Caputo, Marc (October 1, 2015). "Libertarian Party drama: Goat sacrifice, eugenics and a chair's resignation". Politico. Archived from the original on July 8, 2017. Retrieved May 27, 2017.
- ^ Progress, HAWES SPENCER The Daily (2024-02-21). "Florida man charged in 2017 torch cases speaks: He's stopped drinking goat blood". The Daily Progress. Retrieved 2024-02-23.
Works cited
edit- Grant, Kenneth (1980). Outside the Circles of Time. Muller. ISBN 978-0584104684. Contains a lengthy account of the writing of Nema's Liber Pennae Praenumbra.
- Kaczynski, Richard (2024). Friendship in Doubt: Aleister Crowley, J. F. C. Fuller, Victor B. Neuburg, and British Agnosticism. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-769400-8.
- Readdy, K. (2018). One Truth and One Spirit: Aleister Crowley's Spiritual Legacy. Ibis Press. ISBN 978-0892541843.
- Starr, Martin P. (2003). The Unknown God: W. T. Smith and the Thelemites. Bollingbrook, Illinois: Teitan Press. ISBN 978-0-933429-07-9.