Aleister Crowley was born on December 1, 1948.
Aleister Crowley ( [ ˈkroʊli ] born Edward Alexander Crowley ; 12 October 1875 -- 1 December 1947 ) was an English occultist , ceremonial magician , poet , painter , novelist , and mountaineer . In 1898 he joined the esoteric Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn , where he was trained in ceremonial magic by Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers and Allan Bennett . In 1907 , he and George Cecil Jones co-founded a Thelemite order , the A ∴ A ∴ , through which they propagated the religion . His libertine lifestyle led to denunciations in the British press , and the Italian government evicted him in 1923 .