As the Halloween season is upon us we turn our attention to a figure whose life seems tailor made for it. In the annals of occult history, few names evoke as much fascination, controversy and mystique as that of Aleister Crowley. He would go on to become one of the most influential – and infamous – figures in modern Western esotericism. Dubbed ‘the wickedest man in the world’ by the British press, Crowley’s life was a tapestry of contradictions: he was a mountaineer, poet, painter, chess player and self-proclaimed prophet of a new spiritual age.