We know magic isn't real, card tricks, pulling a rabbit out of a hat, cutting a woman in half.

These are allusions. They look real, they're impossible to explain when done well, but they're only tricks to entertain us.

Alistair Crowley wasn't interested in that kind of magic.

Crowley is legendary for his exploration of actual magic, black magic, the tools of the occult.

He wasn't after tricks, he wanted the real thing.

As a child, Crowley's mother nicknamed him the Beast 666 for his bad behavior.

This is, as you probably know, the numerical sign of Satan from the Bible.

Most of us would be hurt, at least insulted if our mom nicknamed us Satan.

But for Alistair Crowley, being Satan was not an insult. It was a goal. Alistair Crowley was born in Warwickshire, England in 1875.

His parents weren't prepared for a child that would become legend for his awful behavior.

They were Christian fundamentalists.

In fact, they were part of an extreme sect within the fundamentalists

called the Plymouth Brethren,

and his father Edward was not just a member of the brethren, he was a preacher.

They believe the Bible was the literal truth.

So when his mother Emily called Alistair The Beast, it was not a joke.

The proly children were only allowed to read one book.

You guessed it, the Bible.

The version used by the Plymouth Brethren contained 66 books.

Lots of positive stories to choose from.

But the book that captured Crowley's imagination

as a child was the book of revelation.

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