the wickedest man in the world

The Wickedest Man in the World

Welcome back to Myths & Mischief! This is your Lovable Lord of Lore, today’s mischievous myth is about “the wickedest man in the world”.

When you get cut off in traffic, or someone gives you the finger, we are seeing one moment when that person has been less than courteous. We all have our moments. Have you ever had an interaction with someone who, over a period of time, made you believe that they are the worst person ever? Maybe it was someone you dated, someone in your family, a coworker, or a politician.

Well, here is the challenge: Answer the twenty questions below and see if that changes your ranking.

1. Is their nickname “The Great Beast 666,” “the wickedest man in the world,” or “the father of modern occultism?” This includes their own mother referring to them as “the beast”

2. Have they written books that hold hidden agendas?

3. Are they widely considered to be the most famous and influential occultist in modern history?

4. Did they start their own religion and cult focused on forcing their will onto reality?

5. Do they reject traditional morality and endorse neopaganism and chaos magic?

6. Were they alleged to be a British spy who campaigned for the German war effort against England while they lived in the United States as well as a Russian revolutionary who supposedly reported on their efforts in Moscow, and investigated the opium trade in China?

7. Have they ever been exiled by multiple fascist dictators who thought they were mad?

8. Have they been kicked out of a secret society that practiced ceremonial magic and ritual use of drugs?

9. Have they contracted gonorrhea and syphilis from prostitutes?

10. Have they claimed to be a prophet of Aiwass, the messenger of Horus, or also had a theophany with two other gods?

11. Have they ever upset people so much that said people risked their lives (and even lost them) just to get away from the person?

12. Have they ever shot people?

13. Have they ever performed an evocation to the demon Choronzon, including a blood sacrifice, which involved  compelling others to drink the blood of a sacrificed cat?

14. Have they ever made someone cut themselves for using the word “I” in a statement?

15. Have they ever faked their own death?

16. Have they ever attempted to recruit Adolf Hitler to join their cult?

17. When describing human sacrifice, did they ever claim “A male child of perfect innocence and high intelligence is the most satisfactory victim?”

18. Have they been mentioned or referenced by the Beatles, Led Zeppelin, David Bowie, Ozzy Osbourne, and the video game Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain?

19. Were they born into wealth, but squandered their inheritance and died in poverty? 

20. How does your person stack up against “The Great Beast 666,” also known as Aleister Crowley?

In part the titles were hyped up a bit. Some were libelous at a time when he could not afford the legal fees to take them to court. Some were self-proclaimed  for headlines and reputation-building. Some were slanderous, as rumors were generated by bad publicity being spread from person to person. Others called him “the wickedest man in the world” and “a man we’d like to hang;”  but he called himself the “Great Beast 666.”  Even his mother referred to him as “the beast.”

There were some positives regarding his “religious” practices. Yoga, Tantra, and meditation grew in popularity, making peoples’ lives better. He also tried to unite science and religion together, but never provided details on how he connected them. One of the greatest challenges to his Thelema religious philosophy was that it entailed flawed logic. His claim was “Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law,” which implies that, if you know your true will, you can impose it on others when it suits you. Since the perspective of your “true will” changes as you grow wiser, one can never be sure when they have arrived at their true will or whether it is a corrupted sense of that will.

Crowley was addicted to heroin, cocaine, and, at times, opium. He had issues with violence and his bisexual nature was intertwined with Magick (he spelled magic with a K to show that it wasn’t referring to the illusions that one might see on a stage during a magic show) Sexual and violent rituals made him an easy target. He was kicked out of Italy and Germany when they fell under the rule of dictators, which does make one look pretty bad. If Hitler and Mussolini thought you were too evil for their countries, it should cause one pause. 

Rumors followed Crowley throughout his life.Some said he was a spy working for the British against the Germans, Chinese, and the Russians. There were those who believed he supported the Nazis, was an opium addict, and a supporter of a new Russian Revolution.

  

His criticism of established religions based in Christianity made him a popular anti-establishment icon who was used by rock bands. He was on the album cover for the Beatles’ Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Heart Club Band and was mentioned in songs by Led Zeppelin, David Bowie and Ozzy Osbourne in addition to being featured in the video game Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain. He also  infamously inspired the start of the Gardnerian Wicca religion, which adopted many of his practices and traditions. 

His own religion, Thelema, said to be inspired by the Egyptian disembodied entity named Aiwass, was dictated to him by Aiwass with the intent that he would spread the word. Later on, Crowley claimed that he encountered another god that demanded the same thing. It must be difficult to navigate the true will of multiple gods from different belief systems while serving as a prophet for both. He blurred the lines between atheism, polytheism, and mystical monotheism in his attempt to synthesize Christian theology and paganism. 

While most religions promote loving thy neighbor, Crowley focused on imposing his will on others, including sacrificing animals… and possibly people, and making people do things that they did not want to do, such as forcing heterosexual men to have sex with other men, or having his followers drink the blood of the sacrificed. He lost many followers over that, and some lost their lives trying to escape his influence. 

While negative ideas of a person spread faster than a wildfire, Crowley called himself titles that associated him with the devil, even if it was only to draw headlines or to turn heads, it begs us to answer your initial question…

Is the person you were thinking of worse than Aleister Crowley, or are they following his teachings? 

If you liked this tale, make sure to subscribe for more so you don’t miss the next installment of mischievous myths!

Until next time, this is your Lovable Lord of Lore.