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Aleister Crowley, born Edward Alexander Crowley, was an occultist, writer, mountaineer, philosopher, poet, and mystic. He was an influential member in several occult organizations, including the Golden Dawn, the A∴A∴, and Ordo Templi Orientis (O.T.O.), and is best known today for his occult writings, especially
The Book of the Law
, the central sacred text of Thelema. He gained much notoriety during his lifetime, and was infamously dubbed "The Wickedest Man in the World."
Crowley was additionally a chess player, painter, astrologer, hedonist, bisexual, drug experimenter, and social critic. Crowley also claimed to be a Freemason, but the regularity of his initiations with the United Grand Lodge of England has been disputed.