Aleister Crowley: The Magician of Hastings and the Shadow Side of Enlightenment

Discover the extraordinary life of Aleister Crowley — the poet, magician, and occultist who lived in Hastings and co-created the visionary Thoth Tarot deck.

There are few figures in the world of mysticism as provocative—or as misunderstood—as Aleister Crowley. To some, he was a brilliant magician and spiritual philosopher who expanded the boundaries of human consciousness. To others, he was a dangerous heretic who scandalised Edwardian England. Either way, his influence on modern spirituality—and on the tarot itself—is impossible to ignore.

Born in 1875 to a devoutly religious family in Leamington Spa, Edward Alexander Crowley rejected his strict Christian upbringing and renamed himself Aleister, beginning a lifelong quest to explore magic, consciousness, and personal freedom. A poet, mountaineer, and mystic, he became a leading member of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, an occult society whose members also included W.B. Yeats, A.E. Waite, and Pamela Colman Smith. But Crowley was never one to follow quietly. He wanted not just to study the mysteries—but to live them.

His life was a tapestry of rebellion and revelation. He travelled widely, climbing Himalayan peaks and exploring Egypt, where he claimed to have received a channeled text known as The Book of the Law. From it emerged his personal philosophy, Thelema, which declared:

”Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.”

“Love is the law, love under will.”

These words became his spiritual manifesto: a call for each soul to discover its True Will, the divine purpose that aligns one’s will with cosmic order.

By the 1930s, Crowley’s life had grown quieter, though no less intriguing. In declining health and nearly broke, he moved into a boarding house called Netherwood, overlooking the sea in Hastings, East Sussex. Locals often saw him walking the promenade in his long coat and hat, a peculiar figure with piercing eyes and a dry wit. Some residents whispered that he could control the weather; others said he had mellowed, spending evenings playing chess and talking philosophy with fellow guests.

It was during his later years that Crowley’s most enduring artistic project came to fruition—the Thoth Tarot, a collaboration with the artist Lady Frieda Harris. Unlike the simpler imagery of the Rider–Waite–Smith deck, the Thoth Tarot was a grand alchemical vision: bold, intricate, and saturated with esoteric symbolism drawn from Kabbalah, astrology, alchemy, Egyptian mythology, and sacred geometry.

Crowley wrote the companion book, The Book of Thoth, while Lady Harris spent more than five years painting the seventy-eight cards under his direction. She poured immense detail into every image, layering meaning upon meaning—transforming each card into a meditative portal. The project began in 1938 and was completed around 1943, but due to wartime shortages and controversy around Crowley’s reputation, the deck wasn’t published until after his death in 1947.

Today, the Thoth Tarot is recognised as one of the most profound and visually stunning decks ever created. Where the Rider–Waite–Smith deck focuses on accessibility and storytelling, the Thoth deck invites the reader into deep esoteric study and introspection. Its swirling colours, sacred geometry, and abstract beauty evoke higher states of consciousness. Many modern readers find that it speaks not just in words or images—but in energy.

Crowley died in Hastings in December 1947, aged 72. Despite the scandals, the poverty, and the myths that followed him, his legacy endures in the fields of magic, psychology, art, and tarot. His influence has rippled through culture—from David Bowie and Led Zeppelin to modern spiritual teachers exploring the union of shadow and light.

In his own unconventional way, Aleister Crowley forced society to confront the uncomfortable truth that spiritual growth is not always gentle or pure. Sometimes it requires walking through darkness to find the light. His Thoth Tarot remains a mirror of that idea—complex, radiant, unsettling, and deeply human.

And perhaps that’s why, decades later, the sea air of Hastings still seems to carry a whisper of his presence—a reminder that enlightenment is rarely found by following rules.

“Every man and every woman is a star.” — Aleister Crowley

Written by Edita, intuitive tarot reader and founder of Wild Intuition Tarot. Exploring the lineage of mystics and visionaries.

Book a Reading

Connect with your own inner wisdom.

Book a Life Path Tarot Reading (including a free birth chart) or a Love & Relationship Reading to explore the symbols, archetypes, and stories that shape your unique journey.