A closer look

British occultist Aleister Crowley traveled to the Algerian desert in 1909 to summon Choronzon, a highly dangerous entity known in mystical circles as the demon of dispersion. Accompanied by his poet friend Victor Neuburg, Crowley drew protective circles in the sand, sacrificed three pigeons, and then voluntarily let the demon possess his own body inside a magical triangle. According to Neuburg's incredibly dramatic diary, the possessed Crowley threw sand at the protective circle to break it and wrestled his assistant to the ground. In reality, two upper-class British men likely just got ragingly dehydrated, murdered some local poultry, and rolled around in the dirt screaming in Enochian. Crowley considered the ritual a massive spiritual success, which is a fantastic way to rebrand a sun-induced psychotic breakdown while holidaying in the Sahara