Abbey of Thelema in Cefalu is a small house, where in 1920 the famous occultist Aleister Crowley founded the temple and spiritualist center .  Crowley's name is borrowed from the works of Rabelais' Gargantua and Pantagruel, "in which the Abbey of Thelema is described as a kind of" anti-convent ", whose inhabitants lived solely in accordance with their wishes and whims .  This idealistic utopia was a model commune Crowley, as well as a model of a magical school called "College of the Holy Spirit" .  Novices his mystical order every day to praise the sun, studied the writings of Crowley, practiced yoga and various ritual ceremonies, as well as worked in the home laboratory .  The main goal of the students was to devote himself to the Great Work, that in the end come to the True Will .  Under the "Great Work" is meant to combine the spiritual practices of the "I" with God .  Crowley wanted to transform this little house into a global center of magic and perhaps to collect registration fees from those wishing to join in his bosom . 

In 1923, a student from Oxford Raul Lavdey was found dead in the Abbey. His wife, Betty Mae, considered the cause of death of Raul participated in one of Crowley's rituals, during which it was necessary to drink the blood of sacrificed cats. A more likely cause is considered to be an acute attack of intestinal infection. Back in London, May gave an interview to tabloid «The Sunday Express», which made her accusations against Crowley. And when the rumors came to the government of Mussolini, who immediately ordered the occultist to expel from the country, which was done in the same 1923. Gradually, the abbey fell into decay, and local residents Zabel mysterious drawings and inscriptions Crowley.

Today, this small house is considered an exotic attraction Cefalu. In 1955 director Kenneth Endzher, Crowley fan, filmed here his film "The Abbey of Thelema", which tore the plaster from the walls of some to find the message of his guru.