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Rose Kelly | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1874-07-23)23 July 1874 Paddington, Middlesex, England |
| Died | 11 February 1932(1932-02-11) (aged 57) England |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 2 |
| Relatives | Gerald Kelly (brother) |
Rose Edith Kelly (23 July 1874 – 11 February 1932) was the wife of occult writerAleister Crowley, whom she married in 1903. In 1904, she aided him in the Cairo Working that led to the reception ofThe Book of the Law, on which Crowley based much of his philosophy and religion,Thelema.
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Rose Edith Kelly was born at 78 Cambridge Terrace,Paddington, to Frederic Festus Kelly and Blanche (Bradford) Kelly. Her grandfather, also namedFrederic Festus Kelly, was the founder ofKelly's Directories Ltd.
The eldest of three children – her siblings being Eleanor Constance Mary andGerald Festus – the family moved to theCamberwellvicarage in 1880. Her father served as curate of theParish ofSt. Giles for the next 35 years.
In 1895, Kelly escorted her brother Gerald toCape Town,South Africa, where he convalesced from a liver ailment during the winter of 1895–96.
On 31 August 1897, she married Major Frederick Thomas Skerrett at St Giles' Church, Camberwell. He was a member of theRoyal Army Medical Corps and about fifteen years older than she was. He died on 19 August 1899.
In 1901, she joined her brother Gerald in Paris, France, where she stayed for six months.
Kelly andAleister Crowley eloped on 11 August and married on 12 August 1903,[1] in order to save her from an arranged marriage. Their relationship, however, went beyond a marriage of convenience.[2] The two went on an extended honeymoon that brought them toCairo, Egypt, in early 1904.[3]
Starting in 1902, the couple engaged in esoteric sexual practices adapted fromTantra and experimented with esoteric rituals.[4] On 16 March 1904, "in an avowedly frivolous attempt to impress his wife",Crowley tried to "shew theSylphs" to her using theBornless Ritual.[5] Following this, at her direction, on three successive days beginning 8 April 1904, he entered his room and starting at noon, and for exactly one hour, wrote down what he claimed he heard dictated from a shadowy presence behind him who identified himself asAiwass. The results over the three days were the three chapters of verse known asThe Book of the Law. At one point Crowley failed to hear a sentence, which Kelly later amended to page 19 of the original manuscript "The Five Pointed Star, with a Circle in the Middle, & the circle is Red."[6]
Kelly had two daughters with Crowley: Nuit Ma Ahathoor Hecate Sappho Jezebel Lilith (1904–06) and Lola Zaza (1907–90). Kelly and Crowley divorced in 1909. Lola was eventually taken in by her uncle, Gerald. In 1911, Crowley had Rose committed to anasylum foralcohol dementia.[citation needed]
Kelly married Dr. Joseph Andrew Gormley in 1912.[citation needed]
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Kelly died on 11 February 1932.[7]