The Return of the Beast!

Lady Mary

The "beast" just caught my eyes. So, knowing nothing about Mr. Crowley, only that he and a certain Lady Frida created the deck, maybe somebody could tell me (in short) why he was considered especially "evil"?
 

Aeon418

In short Crowley is considered "evil" because he refused to conform to the societal norms of his time, i.e. stuffy Christian Victorian morality. In his rebellion he identified himself with the antithesis of the religious, moral, and social restriction that surrounded him, the Beast 666.

He openly flouted convention and courted controversy by spending his fortune travelling around the world, climbing mountains before it became a fashion, writing and publishing his own poetry, exploring and experimenting with Magick and Yoga and writing dozens of books on the same, making love to scores of women (and men), talking openly about sex when it was still considered a taboo subject, experimenting with drugs, raving against religious and social restriction, urging people to wake up to their own freedom.......... I could literally go on all day. :D

In short Crowley lived his life by his own rules. Others, who thought it was better to conform, saw him as dangerous and "evil". Basically the label of "evil" is just a projection of other peoples fears onto a man who lived his life in his own way. The true rebel is always cast as the bad guy by the majority.
 

catlin

Aeon418 said:
The true rebel is always cast as the bad guy by the majority.

Well spoken, Aeon418.

Besides, most of Crowley's lovers ended pretty sad (either commiting suicide or ending in the lunatic asylum) which was also attributed to A. Crowley.

Apart from that, he had issues with most of the ppl around him, eg. A. Waite, Mathers, etc.
 

Aeon418

catlin said:
Besides, most of Crowley's lovers ended pretty sad (either commiting suicide or ending in the lunatic asylum) which was also attributed to A. Crowley.
I'm not so sure about "most". A few people that Crowley knew came to a bad end, but certainly not most. Nearly all of Crowley's relationships ended just like many relationships end. Nothing special.

His first wife, Rose, did become an alcoholic but when she died in an asylum it was many years after her divorce from Crowley. And she had re-married after the divorce. Is her second husband accused of being evil? If not, why not?

I can only think of one suicide. Norman Mudd, a one time pupil of Crowley.(Not a lover though) He walked out into the sea with his pockets full of rocks.
I can't think of any others. Other friendships lasted through the years. Some people just drifted out of Crowley's life. With others there was a quarrel and some bitterness. But the myth that everyone who knew Crowley ended up in a bad way is just that, a myth. It's all part of the "evil" Crowley legend that was created by the early and hostile biographers like John Symonds.