From The Daily Mail
Ordo Templi Orientis founding 'prophet' Aleister Crowley, who was born
into an upper-class British family in 1875, styled himself as 'the Great
Beast 666'. He was an unabashed occultist who, prior to his death in
1947, reveled in his infamy as 'the wickedest man in the world'.
His form of worship involved sadomasochistic sex rituals with men and
women, spells which he claimed could raise malevolent gods and the use
of hard drugs, including opium, cocaine, heroin and mescaline.
Crowley’s motto — perpetuated by OTO — was 'do what thou wilt'. And it
is this individualistic approach that has led to a lasting fascination
among artists and celebrities.
…celebrities linked to OTO include the rapper Jay-Z, who has repeatedly purloined imagery and quotations from Aleister Crowley.
Whether wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with 'Do what thou wilt' or hiring
Rihanna to hold aloft a flaming torch in his music videos (a reference
to the Illuminati, an outlawed secret society whose name supposedly
derives from Lucifer, or 'light bringer'), he has given the sect
priceless publicity.
His clothing line, Rocawear, is shot through with OTO imagery such as
the 'all seeing eye' in a triangle, the 'eye of Horus' (an ancient
Egyptian symbol frequently referenced in occult texts) and the head of
Baphomet (the horned, androgynous idol of Western occultism).
Some conspiracy theorists have seized on this as evidence that he is a
member of a secret Masonic movement which they believe permeates the
highest levels of business and government.
Others take a more pragmatic view: that it is commercial opportunism,
cashing in on impressionable teens’ attraction to the 'edginess' of
occult symbolism.
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