Crowley in popular culture

I've been looking up how crowley is in popular culture. There are so many people who wrote songs and literature about him and I wonder if anyone knows if some of those people who write music about him actually know about him or any of his writing or follow his works.

Mr Crowley by Ozzy Osbourne was writtend because while recording The Blizzard of Ozz there was a thoth deck lying around the studio, and previously Ozzy had been given one of Crowley's books by a roadie who was friends with Jimmy Page and he just didn't get it. The song was his "who are you, what are you about" song.

Danny Carrey (Tool's drummer) is a thelemite and as such the bands music is slightly influanced by Uncle Al.

a lot of people seem to namedrop to be seen as mysterious and cool.

EDIT:- The thoth deck pops up in both of these references, so it's kindda relevant to the forum. One could say that the cards magickal current has inspired the works of the said musicians

Crowley: a bad joke on an international scale

Jackie Coogan (famous as Charlie Chaplin's sidekick in The Kid, 1921)
gave the world the Crowley character that his reputation deserved...

Wot? No Waltzes, Arias, or Gregorian Chants? I wonder if Lord Tennyson knew
Him? I hear echoes in his words.... No More? A monster then, a dream,
A discord. Dragons of the prime, that tare each other in their slime, were mellow music matched with him.
To answer your question SilentBreeze, I think people just think him wicked and magical and amoral, without finding out anything at all in some cases. There is a sort of glamour I suppose, seen in that. He was also seen as a rebel against society so attracts a sort of pre adoloscent rage, that either matures in to something worthwhile, or just stays anti social for fashion.~Rosanne

Rosanne said:

He was also seen as a rebel against society so attracts a sort of pre adoloscent rage, that either matures in to something worthwhile, or just stays anti social for fashion.

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I can agree with that in a certain sense, but it does rather miss the whole point of Crowley's philosophy. Thelema is aimed at finding out who you really are, not who society says you are. Society is basically mob rule and the herd instinct that tries to crush individuality for the sake of conformity. Crowley was repulsed by that and took great pleasure in flouting societal norms as a result.
To the person who thinks societies tribal taboos are healthy and normal, Crowley literally is The Beast.

Crowley's adoption of the motto, Frater Perdurabo, is a reference to Mark 13:13 and is strangely prophetic:

Mark 13:13 - And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.

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And what might we find a 21st century "Crowley" doing?
There's so many possibilities, if he stayed out of prison.

Fulgour said:

And what might we find a 21st century "Crowley" doing?
There's so many possibilities, if he stayed out of prison.

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Who ever said that finding your own true nature meant commiting crimes against other human beings? How odd.

Was Crowley ever arrested or imprisoned for any crimes during his life time? No. The only anti-societal crimes that Crowley commited are of the same sort that led to Oscar Wilde dying in prison.
Maybe he would be arrested for free speech. It's impossible to speak plainly these days without offeding someone.

Very few people cared about his philosophy- they just saw how he acted and then the cycle was complete- they did not care or want to enquire about his philosophy because of how he acted..... so very few cared about his philosophy..... if you get my drift.
Mark 13:14 is also strangely prophetic. ~Rosanne

AbstractConcept said:

Mr Crowley by Ozzy Osbourne was writtend because while recording The Blizzard of Ozz there was a thoth deck lying around the studio, and previously Ozzy had been given one of Crowley's books by a roadie who was friends with Jimmy Page and he just didn't get it. The song was his "who are you, what are you about" song.

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The song Mr. Crowely by Ozzy is the reason why I asked this, and then I continued to look it up and found many reference, which brought me to wonder if these people really know who he is or just like to abuse his name. But thanks for that backgound info, it's quite interesting.

Another interstin random fact that probably means nothing, but I was researcing and stumbled upon it, crowley died almost exactly a year before ozzy was born, both in december.