1880-1929
People
The people who crossed paths with Crowley in Paris, and the places to find them on the map.
Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers 1854-1918
Co-founder of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn in 1888 and translator of The Kabbalah Unveiled and the Book of Abramelin, Mathers settled in Paris in 1892 with his wife Moina. There he founded the Ahathoor temple and ran the Order from the French capital.
He initiated Crowley into the grade of Adeptus Minor in Paris in January 1900, against the wishes of the London adepts. The Golden Dawn revolt, and then the quarrel between the two men, followed soon after. Mathers died in Paris in 1918.
Where to find them
Moina Mathers 1865-1928
Born Mina Bergson, sister of the philosopher Henri Bergson, she studied painting at the Slade School in London before marrying MacGregor Mathers in 1890. She decorated the Ahathoor temple and, in 1899, performed with him the “Rites of Isis”, staged publicly in Paris.
After her husband’s death, she led in London the order he had founded after the schism, the Alpha et Omega, until her death in 1928.
Where to find them
Rose Edith Kelly 1874-1932
Sister of the painter Gerald Kelly, she married Crowley in August 1903. In Cairo, in March 1904, she told him the gods were waiting for him: this was the starting point for the reception of the Book of the Law, which he wrote down from inner dictation from 8 to 10 April.
They had two daughters, Nuit Ma Ahathoor, who died in 1906, and Lola Zaza, born in 1907. The couple divorced in 1909. It was in Paris, in 1902, that Gerald Kelly introduced her to Crowley, on rue Campagne-Première.
Where to find them
Gerald Kelly 1879-1972
A friend of Crowley’s since Cambridge, the young painter settled in Paris in 1901 and rented a studio on rue Campagne-Première. He introduced Crowley to the Montparnasse art scene, to the Chat Blanc, and to Rodin.
His sister Rose married Crowley in 1903. A renowned portraitist, Kelly was knighted in 1945 and served as President of the Royal Academy from 1949 to 1954.
Where to find them
Auguste Rodin 1840-1917
The most famous sculptor of his day received Crowley, introduced by Gerald Kelly, in 1902. Crowley visited his studios and wrote a series of poems on his works, published in 1907 as Rodin in Rime, with drawings by the sculptor.
Where to find them
William Somerset Maugham 1874-1965
The future novelist frequented the Chat Blanc, on rue d’Odessa, where he met Crowley at the turn of the century. He used him as the model for the sinister magus Oliver Haddo in his novel The Magician (1908), a portrait Crowley took very badly.
Where to find them
Victor Neuburg 1883-1940
A poet Crowley met at Cambridge, he became his disciple and partner in magical work. From 31 December 1913 to 12 February 1914, they carried out together in Paris a long series of operations, the Paris Working.
After their break in 1914, Neuburg devoted himself to poetry and publishing, and encouraged young writers, among them Dylan Thomas.
Where to find them
Leah Hirsig 1883-1975
A Swiss-born American schoolteacher, she joined Crowley in 1919 and became his “Scarlet Woman”. She shared the adventure of the Abbey of Thelema in Cefalù, from 1920 to 1923.
She stayed in Paris with Crowley in 1924, after their expulsion from Italy, before they parted.
Where to find them
Dorothy Olsen
An American, Crowley’s companion in 1924 and 1925, after Leah Hirsig. She went with him to Paris, where they stayed at the Hôtel du Dauphin among other places, then to North Africa. Little is known of her life before and after this period.
Where to find them
Gerald Yorke 1901-1983
A young Englishman passionate about esotericism, he became Crowley’s pupil and financial backer from 1928, during the last Paris months. He later assembled a vast collection of Crowley’s manuscripts and papers, now held at the Warburg Institute in London.
Where to find them
Papus (Gérard Encausse) 1865-1916
A physician and a leading figure of Parisian occultism, founder of the Martinist Order, he frequented the Matherses and the Ahathoor temple. Crowley counted him among the saints of the Gnostic Mass. He died on 25 October 1916 and is buried at Père-Lachaise.
Where to find them
Oscar Wilde 1854-1900
The Irish writer died in Paris in 1900. His tomb, sculpted by Jacob Epstein, was installed at Père-Lachaise in 1912 and caused a scandal with its nudity. In 1914, Crowley loudly joined the controversy over the monument.