Unholy Moley Mr. Crowley!

We found this house by intention below the Cefalu stadium, down a stone pathway obscured by brush and through the bushes. Aleister Crowley (last name rhymes with unholy) lived her once but now the vines and weeds own this dilapidated residence.

Even in the 1920s, the 'abbey' was not an attractive place. Dogs and children ran round a yard littered with all the paraphernalia of drug-taking and the black arts. Rob can attest that Satan's dogs still live here and he's got the shoes to prove it!

There were gaudy cabalistic signs and lewd portraits on the walls. No one kept house, there was no running water or flushing toilets.

The neighbor tells us that once Mussolini threw Crowley and gang out of the country, new tenants moved in for a while before it was abandoned. Wallpaper and paint concealed Crowley's wall paintings, which were uncovered in the 50s.



In the early 1920s, a typical day here might have included Thelemites donning their magical robes, picking up their magical weapons and facing the East performing the Kabbalistic Cross and banishing ritual. For special occasions the Gnostic Mass was performed. It began with "Do what you wilt. I proclaim the law of light, life, love, liberty and the name of IAO (Isis, Apophis, Osiris)."

Here you can see what remains of a fresco in which a woman is straddled beneath and between the legs of an African man. My guess is that profiteers have the rest of the frescoes along with the fixtures and other remains of this house on e-bay or some underground black magic auction. We are probably of the last to see any remains of Crowley's reign here.



Long ago, this was to be Aleister Crowley's mecca for his disciples. He had hoped it would become his training center. He authored Diary of a Drug Fiend here, and this is where his addictions spiraled out of control. He became hooked on heroin when it was prescribed for his asthma.

When follower Raul Loveday died at his commune - that's when Mussolini banished Crowley and his clan from Italy. There are two stories - one is that Crowley advised Loveday that he would die on a specific day and forbade him to drink the water. And he did not follow the advice. The other is that he was poisoned while drinking cat blood during a ritual. Regardless, Benito gave him the boot. Too much bad publicity for Italy. Hmmm...Is that the pot calling the kettle black or what?



Here is the villa as it was when Crowley lived. His infant daughter pictured here in Leah's arms died here. Leah also miscarriaged here. The other child belonged to their nanny who was also his mistress.

I wonder where he would have chosen to bury little Poupee in Cefalu in this deeply Roman Catholic town that he chose for his religion. What Christian would bury her in 1920s Sicily!? She's probably in the yard here somewhere...