Referred to by the British press as the most wicked man alive and by his mother as "the beast", Crowley was in his lifetime a mountain-climber, a poet, a dope addict and is perhaps the most well known figure in western occultism. Born to conservative Christian parents, Crowley immersed himself in the study of both eastern and western mysticism. He joined The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn during its last days and was expelled during a schism within the order. Claiming to have channeled his famous Book of the Law from his holy guardian angel, he set about building a faith around it. The occult order, the A.A., was a result of it and after becoming the British head of the Ordo Templi Orientist, soon came to dominate that order with his doctine of Thelema. The O.T.O. carries on Crowley's teachings and the A.A. (which was never an organized group as such but more of a secret lineage of masters and disciples) still exists out there somewhere.