Aleister Crowley: From Thelema to Latter Rain

Aleister Crowley, born Edward Alexander Crowley, was an English occultist, philosopher, ceremonial magician, poet, painter, novelist, mountaineer, and self-proclaimed prophet who founded the religion of Thelema. He remains one of the most influential figures in Western esotericism and counterculture, having popularized the movements with themes of Gnosticism, mysticism, egyptology, and more. Some of those themes made their way into the Latter Rain movement through William Branham and others, making Crowley as much of a grandfather to Latter Rain as was Illinois cult leader John Alexander Dowie.

One of Crowley's central themes used for Thelema was the notion of "celestial bodies." Crowley claimed that he, as the central prophet of Thelema, was entrusted with guiding humanity into the Æon of Horus.[1]  In his book, The Book of the Law, Crowley described the "unveiling of the company of heaven," wherein "Every man and every woman is a star, every number is infinite; there is no difference."[2] Thelema described prophecy as progressive revelation, a theme that would become the core philosophy of Latter Rain "prophets."[3] According to The Book of the Law, "All words are sacred and all prophets true; save only that they understand a little; solve the first half of the equation."[4]

Latter Rain converts believed that celestial bodies were "watching the character" of the physical bodies of humans. William Branham, leader of the Revival, taught converts that the Zodiac was a Bible [5] and that stars in the heaven were actually "messengers" declaring God's "Message."[6]

Then I think of when we see them standing yonder, our loved ones, our mothers, our kindreds, all our friends; and to see them in their immortal bodies, their celestial bodies; watching their character, seeing how they conduct themselves with that sweetness and quietness, no more nervousness or frustrations. To see them then standing in the likeness of the Lord Jesus, that'll be a wonderful day.[7]
- William Branham

The unveiling of the company of heaven. Every man and every woman is a star. Every number is infinite; there is no difference.
- Aliester Crowley, The Book of the Law

Central to the "celestial bodies" doctrines of Crowley and Latter Rain was the notion that the human form was a "body of light," also called "astral bodies." The concept was not new to Crowley; it was a widespread belief among esoteric, occult, and mystical cult religions and found in the philosophy of Plato. According to this doctrine, the "astral plane" was made of "seven heavens" and physical bodies would ascend to the heavens to unite with the "bodies of light." According to Thelema, the bodies of light were "reincarnating" through "metempsychosis" — "the transmigration of a soul from one body to another after death."[8]

Leaders of the Latter Rain movement used the term "light meters" to describe the human form of the "celestial bodies." According to Latter Rain, human bodies were filled with "cosmic light," some having a greater "light" and some having a lesser. This, according to the doctrine, was due to the amount of "God" in the human form. Lights that were nearer to the earth such as the flying saucer craze of the late 1940s through 1960s, according to Latter Rain, were "investigating angels"[9] that would one day lift the "bodies of light" into the heavens as a "Rapture."[10]

Now, we're made up of light meters. Inside of us is cosmic light. Now, that cosmic light is a light that they can take an x-ray with. The x-ray doesn't come from the x-ray light; it comes from your own light. And then if that cosmic light, say, could be pushed to a place to where not cosmic light but Eternal Light...God could dwell supremely, to do our thinking, do our walking, do our talking, then it's no longer the man; it's God in the man.[11]
- William Branham

The light body, also called the "astral body" or "subtle body", is the "semi-physical" aspect of the human body, neither merely physical nor merely mental. Postulated by many philosophers and elaborated as follows: For various esoteric, occult and mystical teachings. Other terms used for this body include glorious body, spirit body, luciform body, augoeides ("radiant body"), astroeides ("stellar or stellar body"), and celestial body. This concept comes from Plato's philosophy. The word "astral" means "of the stars". The astral plane is thus made up of the seven heavens of the classical planets. This idea is rooted in common religious descriptions of the afterlife, in which the journey or "ascension" of the soul is described as "an ecstatic, mystical, or out-of-body experience, a spiritual traveler." is described in terms such as "leaves the body and travels". The Neoplatonists Porphyry and Proclus elaborated on Plato's account of the astral nature of the human mind. Throughout the Renaissance, philosophers, alchemists, healers including Paracelsus and his disciples, and natural scientists such as John Dee continued to debate the nature of the astral world, intermediate between Earth and God. The concept of the astral or light body was adopted by magicians of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, including 19th-century ritual magicians Eliphas Levy, Florence Farr, and Aleister Crowley.[12]
- Academic Accelerator Encylopedia

For Latter Rain and Thelema converts alike, the "watchers" on earth were used as angelic "spirit guides" to leaders of both movements. "Prophets" of the movements had the power to invoke spiritual "messages from God" by communicating with "angels," astrology, divination, or the usage of numerology. The spirit guides could be summoned through various methods, including prayer, meditation, devotion, self-discipline, or ritualistic chanting. When in the presence of the spirit guide, the human form gained insight into the collection of celestial bodies. In Latter Rain Revivals, Branham described his method of chanting. According to Branham, as he entered into the trance, he repeatedly chanted the phrase "two times two equals four."

Then when I strike something that seems to burn down, comes something like this. When His Presence gets near, I begin to hear something like way off in a distance, something on this order. 'Two times two equal four.' Closer, 'Two times two equal four. Two times two equal four. Two time two equal four.' [Brother Branham speaks each repeat a little faster—Ed.] On, on, on, like that. It's His Presence coming in.[13]
- William Branham

The type of Magick practiced by each individual Thelemite depends on the individual in question and his/her needs. Some practices resemble those used by many practitioners of current and past religions, like prayer, meditation, researching religious texts, chanting, rituals, self-discipline etc. Many practices in turn are what some might call occult, say astrology, divination, numerology and communication with "angels" or "entities". All these methods are used as a means of getting insights on one's own being and one's place in the universe.[14]
- Introduction to Thelema