Aleister Crowley: The Beast in Berlin

Tobias Churton is Honorary Fellow of Exeter University, where he is faculty lecturer in Rosicrucianism and Freemasonry. He holds a master’s degree in Theology from Brasenose College, Oxford, and is the author of many books, including Gnostic Philosophy and Aleister Crowley: The Biography. He lives in England.

• Foreword: Degenerate Berlin by Frank van Lamoen Assistant Curator, Stedelijk Museum, AmsterdamAcknowledgments Dramatis Personae -- WHO’S WHO IN THE BEAST IN BERLIN ONE -- SCOOP! TWO -- Selling Aleister Crowley THREE -- The New Age in Germany Theosophy in GermanyAleister Crowley Meets the German New AgeFOUR -- Karl Germer and the Weida Conference Arrival at HohenleubenKarl GermerThelema VerlagDr. PeithmannReturn to HohenleubenFIVE -- Cosmopolis--City of the Future SIX -- Good-Bye to All That Hello Again to All ThatSEVEN -- Kings in Exile Are Always Beggars The Stunt Hits the FanEIGHT-- Quantum Magus “Nick” Carter and the Case of the Reappearing WifeNINE -- An Old Master Modern Art in BerlinThe Artist in the BeastTEN -- Hanni Jaeger, Save Our Souls ELEVEN -- Thoroughly Modern MagusThe Ninth Degree (IX°)TWELVE -- The Last Summer of Freedom BlunderstormFlechtheimWerner Alvo Konstantin August von AlvenslebenTHIRTEEN -- Toward the Exhibition The World from BelowMarcellus and Margo SchifferFOURTEEN -- Porza! Mali and IgelFIFTEEN -- Hope of Harvest The Great Crowley Movie ConnectionSIXTEEN -- Spying Ethel ManninSEVENTEEN -- Last OrdersJean RossDiscovery of the NeutronEIGHTEEN -- Lost TimeLost PaintingsNINETEEN -- Lost People Before Hitler Was, I AmTWENTY -- Rebirth--The Spirit Can Return Notes Bibliography Index

“An invaluable in-depth history--magnificently illustrated in full color--that sheds light on one of the most important periods in both 20th century Europe and the life of the Magus of the Aeon, Aleister Crowley. His two-year stay in volatile, bohemian, and urbane Berlin during the final years of the Weimar Republic and first years of the Great Depression has hitherto been largely undocumented. This full-length treatment of Crowley as artist (in Churton’s words, “the only Magus in history with a name worthy of the annals of Art”) is cast against the last days of Germany’s Versailles Treaty era and the apocalyptic rise of Adolph Hitler and his “merely brutal men.” The author well captures the cultural spirit and intoxicating New Age currents in which Crowley moved. For specialists, he provides a uniquely intimate view of Crowley’s succession to the Headship of O.T.O. during the Weida Conference of 1925; some intelligent observations on sexual magick; and extensive extracts from Crowley’s voluminous correspondence--allowing the reader a “Beast’s-eye-view” of his personal life, proselytizing efforts, business activities, and thorough contempt for Nazism. Highly recommended.”