Description of the attraction
The Abbey of Thelema in Cefalu is a small house in which the famous occultist Aleister Crowley founded a temple and a spiritual center in 1920. This name Crowley borrowed from the work of Rabelais "Gargantua and Pantagruel", in which the Abbey of Thelema is described as a kind of "anti-monastery" whose inhabitants lived exclusively in accordance with their desires and whims. Such an idealistic utopia was the model for Crowley's commune, as well as the model for a magical school called the College of the Holy Spirit. The novices of his mystical order daily praised the sun, studied the writings of Crowley, practiced yoga and various ritual ceremonies, and also worked in a home laboratory. The main goal of the students was to devote themselves to the Great Work in order to arrive at the True Will in the end. The “Great Work” meant spiritual practices to unite your “I” with God. Crowley intended to turn this small house into a global magic center and, possibly, collect entrance fees from those wishing to join its fold.
In 1923, Oxford student Raoul Loveday was found dead in the Abbey. His wife, Betty Mae, blamed Raoul's participation in one of Crowley's rituals, during which it was necessary to drink the blood of a sacrificed cat, as the cause of death. A more likely cause is an acute attack of intestinal infection. Back in London, May was interviewed by The Sunday Express, in which she expressed her accusations against Crowley. And when these rumors reached the government of Mussolini, he immediately ordered to expel the occultist from the country, which was done in the same 1923 year. Gradually, the abbey fell into decay, and the locals whitewashed the mysterious drawings and inscriptions of Crowley.
Today this small house is considered an exotic attraction in Cefal. In 1955, director Kenneth Anger, an admirer of Crowley, filmed his film Thelema Abbey here, for which he stripped plaster from some of the walls in order to find the messages of his guru.
