Editing Aleister Crowley (section)

==Possible links to intelligence==
Biographers Richard B. Spence and Tobias Churton have suggested that Crowley was a spy for the British secret services and that among other things he joined the Golden Dawn under their command to monitor the activities of [[Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers|Mathers]], who was known to be a [[Carlism|Carlist]].{{sfnm|1a1=Spence|1y=2008|1pp=22–28|2a1=Churton|2y=2011|2pp=38–46}} Spence suggested that the conflict between Mathers and the London lodge for the temple was part of an intelligence operation to undermine Mathers' authority.{{sfn|Spence|2008|p=27}} Spence has suggested that the purpose of Crowley's trip to Mexico might have been to explore Mexican oil prospects for British intelligence.{{sfn|Spence|2008|p=32}} Spence has suggested that his trip to China was orchestrated as part of a British intelligence scheme to monitor the region's opium trade.{{sfnm|1a1=Spence|1y=2008|1pp=33–35|2a1=Churton|2y=2011|2p=115}} Churton suggested that Crowley had travelled to Moscow on the orders of British intelligence to spy on revolutionary elements in the city.{{sfn|Churton|2011|pp=178–82}}

Spence and Sutin both wrote that Crowley's pro-German work in the United States during World War I was actually a cover for him being a double agent for Britain, citing his hyperbolic articles in ''The Fatherland'' to make the German lobby appear ridiculous in the eyes of the American public.{{sfnm|1a1=Sutin|1y=2000|1pp=247–48|3a1=Spence|3y=2008|3pp=67–76|4a1=Kaczynski|4y=2010|4pp=284–87, 292–92|5a1=Churton|5y=2011|5pp=190–93}} Spence also wrote that Crowley encouraged the [[Imperial German Navy|German Navy]] to destroy the ''[[RMS Lusitania|Lusitania]]'', informing them that it would ensure the US stayed out of the war, while in reality hoping that it would bring the US into the war on Britain's side.{{sfnm|1a1=Spence|1y=2008|1pp=82–89|2a1=Churton|2y=2011|2pp=195–97}} However, there is exactly no evidence other that these biographers suppositions to suggest that this actually happened.