Dorothy Olsen

Born: 11:30 P.M. on 6 September 1892 in Chicago, Illinois.

Died: 8 May 1981.

According to her 23 December 1921 passport application (Page 1, Page 2) Dorothy Olsen was born in Chicago, Illinois, on 6 September 1892, the daughter of a Norwegian immigrant, Christian D. Olsen. At the age of thirty-two Dorothy spent the summer of 1924 traveling around Europe from England, Spain and Italy to Norway. She arrived in Chelles, France on 16 September. Here she would meet Aleister Crowley join the A∴A∴ and assume the motto of Soror Astrid. She died on 8 May 1981.

She was Aleister Crowley's lover from August 1924 though October 1926 and replaced Leah Hirsig as his Scarlet Woman. She had even bore Crowley an infant daughter that died.

Throughout September of 1924 Leah Hirsig and Crowley were slowly drifting apart. On the Fall Equinox, 21 September 1924, she decided to act and sent a letter to Crowley stating, "I hereby renounce the title of Scarlet Woman and pass it on to the Scarlet Concubine of your desire." Upon receiving her letter, Crowley wasted no time in conferring the title on Dorothy. Shortly afterwards they headed for Tunis, leaving Leah to roam the streets of Paris. Crowley's relationship with Dorothy was like a roller coaster with its continual ups and downs right from the start, a pattern that was typical to every relationship he embarked upon.

Dorothy Olsen was with Crowley when he met George Gurdjieff at the Prieure. In 1926, she simply drifted away. According to Crowley, on 8 October 1926 "Astrid blew out of the South" appearing for a few days of wild sex, followed by an entry dated 12 October 1926 stating "Astrid blew out to the West" meaning that Dorothy left him and headed back to America. He never saw her again.

See Jane Wolfe's remarks about her here.