Aleister Crowley was born October 12, 1875, in Leamington Spa, England. His parents belonged to the Plymouth Brethren, a strict fundamentalist Christian sect, so he was raised with a thorough knowledge of the Bible. He attended Trinity College at Cambridge University, but left before completing his degree. After leaving the college, Crowley met George Cecil Jones, a member of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, an occult society which taught magic, qabalah, alchemy, tarot, and astrology. He was initiated into the society in 1898 and his knowledge of the occult grew rapidly, but the group disbanded in 1900. Crowley then traveled extensively in the East, studying yoga. In 1903, Crowley married Rose Kelly, who began entering trance states and sending him messages from Horus, an Egyptian god. These messages formed the first three chapters of The Book of the Law, which introduced Crowley's main concept of Thelema, or "will" in Greek. He also wrote The Book of Thoth, which is his study of the Tarot, and 777 and Other Qabalistic Writings, which is a summary of his symbol system. Crowley died on December 1, 1947, in Hastings, England.
S. L. MacGregor Mathers (1854-1918) was a prominent scholar and leader of the occult movement in Britian at the turn of the century. A life-long fascination with mysticism and Celtic symbolism led Mathers to hold high office in the Rosicrucian Society of England, and eventually to become a founder of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. He is also well known for having been a key tutor to Aleister Crowley.
