Having written much about Aleister Crowley and his influence upon pop-occulture I will herein continue considering personages who have looked to the to mega therion / the great beast for inspiration. Find our previous articles on Crowley here—which range from L. Ron Hubbard’s Scientology to Damien Echols (of the West Memphis Three-WM3 murders infamy) and much, much more.
PAUL McCARTNEY
In their book Blackbird: The Life and Times of Paul McCartney, Geoffrey Giuliano and former guitarist of Wings Denny Laine, claim that in the mid-1970s AD Paul and Linda McCartney were heavy into the occultism of Aleister Crowley.
Albums such as Venus and Mars make occult references and, of course, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band includes Crowley on the cover.
Paul McCartney stated that the people on that album cover were their “heroes.” During 2004 AD concerts Aleister Crowley’s photos were displayed on huge screens during the song Helter Skelter.
This makes sense as Charles Manson, who thought that the Beatles were communicating with him via their music, employed that term and was a member of the satanic Process Church of the Final Judgment.
ROLLING STONES
The band certainly played into the occult with albums such as “Goat’s Head Soup,” “Her Majesty’s satanic Request,” and songs such as “Sympathy for the Devil,” etc.
In the Stephen Woolley film Stoned there is a fetish scene within which guitarist and co-founder Brian Jones “whips his girlfriend Anita Pallenberg” wherein “you can see on the wall of a room a photograph of Aleister Crowley.”
