A prolific writer, he published widely over the course of his life. Born to a wealthy family in Royal Leamington Spa , Warwickshire, Crowley rejected his parents' fundamentalist Christian Plymouth Brethren faith to pursue an interest in Western esotericism. He was educated at Trinity College at the University of Cambridge , where he focused his attention upon mountaineering and poetry, resulting in several publications. Some biographers allege that here he was recruited into a British intelligence agency , further suggesting that he remained a spy throughout his life.
In , he married Rose Edith Kelly , and they honeymooned in Cairo , Egypt, where Crowley wrote down The Book of the Law —a sacred text that serves as the basis for Thelema, which he said had been dictated to him by a supernatural entity named Aiwass. After the unsuccessful Kanchenjunga expedition , and a visit to India and China, Crowley returned to Britain, where he attracted attention as a prolific author of poetry, novels, and occult literature.
After spending time in Algeria, in he was initiated into another esoteric order—the German-based Ordo Templi Orientis O. Through O. Crowley spent the First World War in the United States, where he took up painting, and campaigned for the German war effort against Britain.
His biographers later revealed that he had infiltrated the pro-German movement to assist the British intelligence services. His libertine lifestyle led to denunciations in the British press, and the Italian government evicted him in He divided the following two decades between France, Germany, and England, and continued to promote Thelema until his death.
Crowley gained widespread notoriety during his lifetime, being a drug user , a bisexual , and an individualist social critic. Crowley has remained a highly influential figure over western esotericism and the counterculture of the s , and he continues to be considered a prophet in Thelema. He is the subject of various biographies and academic studies. Crowley's father was born a Quaker , but converted to the Exclusive Brethren , a faction of a Christian fundamentalist group known as the Plymouth Brethren ; Emily likewise converted upon marriage.
