"Mark Wells" is a pseudonym first used by the great English magician/mystic Aleister Crowley. It means "Pay Attention" and serves as a constant reminder for me to do just that in my daily life…

I first became interested in the occult at a very young age, loving stories of witches, ghosts, and Greek, Roman, & Norse mythology. I began the study of astrology and Tarot by age 11 (the great number of magick!). My love for reading led me to the Medieval grimoires and even Sybil Leek along the Way. I still recall the day I saw a bald-headed man staring out at me from the cover of a book which proclaimed him "the Wickedest Man in the World!". Of course, this was Aleister Crowley… I later discovered the mighty sorcerer and artist, Austin Osman Spare, & Chaos Magick ("English Thelema"). The above drawing by A. O. Spare, entitled "Evil Genius", bears a remarkable likeness to myself. (Surprises like this are not uncommon in Spare’s drawings-his subjects cry, speak, and even copies have incredible power). I feel it contains the Secret of the Apocalypse, perhaps, if interpreted properly!

One day, I was reading an article on Jack Parsons, the famed Thelemite, in "Starfire" magazine. My finger "stuck" on the word "Cassap", "the bright deceitful star Cassap", much as if it were the "witness" in a radionic experiment. I added it up by English Qaballa and got 51. This has remained my magickal number to this day. I had begun study of the EQ in 1989 e.v. I had ordered a couple of books which I had opened precisely at the second of the San Francisco Earthquake…at 5:01pm.

My next revelation occurred slowly…I began to notice the letter "E" everywhere. It always appeared "highlighted" in a strange way, on buses, signs, in the newspaper, in books, everywhere. I investigated EA, the Sumerian God, Egypt, every "E" I could find.



One night I had a date (E-mail me at once if you resemble the Aspirant in this drawing!) to see the movie, "The Believers". I was slightly tipsy, but all was okay…I recalled how as a child I had played with a cowrie shell necklace of my father’s and remarked how I had not seen any of those shells for many years. Suddenly, at the climax of the movie-a sacrificial ritual with robed worshippers chanting- I became possessed! Sweating, dizzy, wanting to jump up and run, not knowing what was happening-it was one of the most frightening experiences of my life! Although The Book of the Law had mentioned the "obeah and the wanga", I had never had any real interest in Afro-Caribbean religions. Now, I was curious and began to study. This led me to ESHU!