In June, 2007, I travelled to a small fishing village on the north-east coat of Sicily in order to obtain a complete photographic record of Aleister Crowley's former 'Abbey of Thelema', before it crumbles into the dust of Cefalu. Also, to stand in the same room where, exactly fifty years ago, the building's owner gave a curious keepsake to a young child - a small glass phial on which was stuck a label neatly written by the hand of the previous tenant.
The photographs and 8mm movie footage taken by the child's grandparents that morning were to feature in a publication intended to cash-in on the growing interest in Aleister Crowley created by John Symonds' 1951 biography 'The Great Beast' and a three-part series of articles printed in Picture Post magazine (1955). However, the proposed book was never completed. Consequently, this material has languished quietly in a chest of drawers for the last fifty years.
Thelema Revisited is an account of the events I experienced during my recent visit to Cefalu and also of various correspondences which developed in the subsequent months. Due to a fortunate set of circumstances and coincidences, this travelogue has expanded far beyond its original scope and to a point at which I am reasonably confident to suggest that it answers most, if not all of the questions you are ever likely to ask abut Crowley's (very Thelemic) three year and one month long residence at the Abbey of Thelema, in Cefalu.
Illustrations.
Thelema Revisited contains 162 full colour and 27 black &white images. Most of these are previously unseen, unknown and unpublished. Includes:
A complete pictorial record of the Abbey (exterior and interior) as it looks today.
Spectacular views of the Abbey as seen from the top of La Rocca.
A comprehensive gallery charting the deterioration of the wall murals.
Detailed floor plans of the Abbey as it looked at the time of Crowley's residence and how it looks today.
Full colour gallery containing never before seen images of the paintings Crowley created on the panels (six on each side: Twelve in total) of the double-door located in the Chambre des Cauchemars.
Many rare and unpublished photographs of the Abbey through the years.
A gallery of previously unpublished photographs taken during Kenneth Anger's visit to Cefalu, in the Summer of 1955.
Pictorial map illustrating the route to the Abbey that Crowley would have walked: Including a street map of Cefalu on which all relevant land-based features are marked. Plus, a satellite view of the general vicinity of the Abbey.
History.
A family tree showing the succession of ownership of the Abbey. Including a photograph of Carlos, Barone la Calce (Crowley's landlord).
A summary of the key events which occurred during Crowley's three year and one month long attempt to create his New World Religion on a remote mediterranean fishing village in Sicily. This extends and ties-up many of the .loose ends left by other publications.
A comprehensive and fascinating history of the Abbey and its owners, tenants, visitors and vandals: As recalled by -
Lifelong residents of Cefalu.
Relatives and friends of local people whose daily lives interacted with Crowley and his Thelemites.
Relatives of the owners of the Abbey.
The family who currently live next door to the Abbey.
Cefalu.
Entertaining and humorous descriptions of some of the surreal and downright bizarre moments which occurred during my visit to the beautiful, if not truly mysterious and wholly indecipherable island of Sicily.
Ghosts.
A fascinating and extremely eerie story relating to strange goings-on at the Abbey: Including not one, but two photographs (taken fifty-two years apart) of 'the ghost of Aleister Crowley'.
Tags: Thelema Abbey Santa Barbara Sicily Aleister Crowley Leah Hirsig Scarlet Woman Norman Mudd Raoul Loveday Betty May
