Elaine Mary Simpson

Born: 1875 in Kussowlie, West Bengal.

Died: Unknown.

Elaine Simpson was a Golden Dawn initiate with her motto being Semper Fidelis, meaning 'Always faithful'. She joined the Golden Dawn on 18 January 1897 and was initiated to 5 = 6 on 18 March 1899. She and Aleister Crowley were lovers. By 1900 Crowley and Elaine had parted but he met up with her again briefly in 1906 in Shanghai, where they undertook some magickal work and a brief study of The Book of the Law.

Elaine was born in 1875 in Kussowlie, West Bengal. She was the eldest of two daughters, her younger sister, Beatrice, moved to New York and established herself as an actress and poet under the stage name Beatrice Irwin. Her parents were the Rev. William Simpson and Alice Hall. They married in 1873 and lived for some years at Patna, Roorki, and several other places in India.  Her mother, Alice Simpson was born in Mahableshwar, India and like Elaine, was a member of the Golden Dawn and a member of the Royal Asiatic Society. After becoming a widow Alice traveled in America, Canada, and the Far East.  Crowley had nothing nice to say about her, whom he described as 'a horrible mother, a sixth-rate singer, a first-rate snob, with dewlaps and a paunch; a match-maker, mischief-maker, maudlin and muddle-headed.'  The hard feelings stem from a rumor spread by her that Crowley had visited her daughter's bedroom at night in astral form.

Elaine later married Herr Wölker who was in service of the Kaiser.  She inherited some of her grandfather's 'wonderful adaptability to new environments', which made her popular in German society.