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Underground > Temple >

Aleister Crowley at Hell's Mouth

The Photographer in Blowup

19:50 / 28.07.03

One episode of Crowley's life that has always intrigued me, was his staged suicide at Hell's Mouth, Portugal, in 1930...

He chose the date 23rd September - the Autumn Equinox...

Now does anyone know why he staged the suicide at that point in his life, and why such a peculiar date to boot?

Fernando Pessoa, a Portuguse poet that aided him in his 'suicide,' in a letter wrote that Crowley afterwards fled to Germany...

Why did he go to Germany for, and why didn't he want anyone knowing he was there?

18:13 / 29.07.03

So I assume he didn't actually die then? I love that there's actually a placed called "Hell's Mouth" (it ain't just Sunnydale that's got one!).

When and how did Crowley actually die, BTW?

Grand Panjandrum of the Pointless

22:26 / 29.07.03

Uncle Aleister popped his clogs in England in 1947, in Hastings, in a boarding house where he was living due to lack of money. According to Kenneth Grant he was still taking enough heroin to kill 11 normal adults everyday at this time.
I don't know why he staged the suicide. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that he'd recently been kicked out of Italy (1923) and France (1929).