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JOHN BULL London, England 7 April 1923 (page 10)
A CANNIBAL AT LARGE.
Further investigations into the present and past activities of the degenerate poet. profligate and drug-trafficker, Aleister Crowley, leave us wondering whether this evil genius and arch-corrupter of youth is a man or some sort of demon in human form. In blasphemous allusion to the last book of the Bible, Crowley openly calls himself “The Beast 666,” by which title he is now known throughout the world in certain circles.
Crowley first came under the notice of the police—after leaving Cambridge University, where he is said to have graduated with “Honours”!—when he 'stole £200 from a woman with whom he was then cohabiting. Such an uncanny hold over her did Crowley possess, it appears, that when asked by the police to prosecute, she refused, so that he had to be set free to prey on other women who have since come under his evil spell.
Possessed at one time of ample private means, he penetrated into the recesses of Egypt, Algiers, Morocco, India, Burma, Siam, Mexico, Japan and China, the East Indies, even into the “Forbidden Country” of Thibet. Concerning these travels and his various hunting expeditions some amazing stories are told, which Crowley himself is never tired of relating.
One of these is that leaving his camp in Kashmir one morning, unattended even by natives, Crowley returned with the statement that he had that morning killed two tigers single-handed, one of which, by way of evidence, he carried or dragged back with him to camp! The natives of those parts of India visited by Crowley assert that he really had the power of cowing and killing wild beasts by some magical means.
On one solitary mountain-climbing expedition it is actually affirmed that, running short of provisions, he killed two of his native carriers, and cut them up for food! This incredible of cannibalism is cynically authenticated by “The Beast” himself, and is said to have partly formed the basis of a charge made—when his name came up for election to a well-known West End Club—that he was a “homicidal maniac.” This terrible charge, of which Crowley was notified, was pressed so seriously by a member of the Committee who had known of his doings in India, that his name was withdrawn by his amazed proposer and seconder, who were, of course, entirely ignorant of the reputation of their nominee.
In 1903 Crowley married at Strathpeffer a talented and pretty young widow, whose brother is one of England's most eminent portrait painters. This unhappy lady divorced Crowley after enduring a married life of unspeakable degradation at his hands. She was driven insane by Crowley's continued persecutions and malpractices, and died recently in an asylum.
Both to his studio-”temples” in Victoria Street and the Fulham Road In London, Crowley enticed a number of scientists and other men and women of repute whom he persuaded to experiment with a subtle and little-known drug, called “Anhalonium Lewinii”—which is a potent aphrodisiac derived from Indian hemp and is very similar in certain of its effects to “hashish”—or “Ghang,” as it is commonly called in India.
We have the testimony of several doctors of repute—including one Harley Street specialist—to the “orgies” which Crowley used to indulge in with those who fell under this—and other—drugs' influence.
He has even used it among the members of various house-parties in England, where he was once a welcome guest.
These are facts sufficient in themselves to justify the issue of an extradition warrant for Crowley, so that just punishment may be meted out to him, his abbey of Lust in Sicily closed, and his baneful influence destroyed for ever. |