SPAWN OF THE BEAST THE CHILDREN OF ALEISTER CROWLEY
If people are aware of any of Aleister Crowley’s children, they’d probably be thinking of his short-lived daughter Anne “Poupée” Leah, born to Crowley’s “Scarlet Woman” Leah Hirsig in 1920, and whose death later that year is a key part of the mythology of Crowley’s Abbey of Thelema. She was, though, far from being the only offspring of the Beast. Crowley fathered quite a number of other children, some of whom lived well into the 21st century – and there are others who have either claimed to be Crowley’s children or were claimed to be so by others.
LILITH AND ROSE
Crowley’s first children arrived in relatively conventional circumstances. In August 1903 he had married Rose Kelly, initially as a marriage of convenience to help her escape from an arranged union – but he did then fall in love with her, and their marriage seems to have initially been a success, with Rose travelling with him to Cairo in 1904 and being involved in the genesis of there. Returning to Boleskine, Crowley’s fabled house on the shores of Loch Ness, Rose gave birth to their first daughter on 28 July 1905, named, in typically flamboyant Crowley style, Nuit Ma Ahathoor Hecate Sappho Jezebel Lilith, but usually known as Lilith. Crowley wrote his pornographic to amuse Rose as she recuperated from the birth. Unfortunately, Lilith was not destined to be long-lived. When Crowley headed off to India for his controversial expedition to climb Kanchenjunga in the Himalayas, Rose and Lilith followed him, meeting up in Calcutta after the expedition’s collapse, moving on to visit Burma with him and then to tour Southern China. After the China tour, Rose and Lilith headed back to Britain, while Crowley went to Shanghai where he performed rituals to contact Aiwass, the entity to him. He then headed on to Japan, Canada and New York, before returning to Britain. Lilith never made it home; en route, in Rangoon, she contracted typhoid and died before she reached her second birthday, Crowley being informed by telegram. He blamed Rose’s increasing alcoholism for the death, although taking a small child on extended wanderings in the East in the early 20th century was always going to put her health at risk. An acquaintance unhelpfully suggested the child had died “of excessive nomenclature”.
