Of Crowley’s 'scarlet women', Leila Waddell was without doubt the most intriguing and most popular. Her rare beauty and intellectual prowess inspired Crowley deeply. Some of Crowley’s best work was inspired by Waddell including many of his short stories and works of poetry. However, the scope of Leila’s greatness far exceeds her time with Crowley.
Leila Ida Nerissa Bathurst Waddell was the daughter of Mr. And Mrs. David Waddell of Bathurst and Randwick in Australia. Of Maori descent she was an accomplished violin and orchestral player.
In 1908 Leila left Australia to try her luck in England. Her experience there was as leader of the Gypsy band in the stage performance of A Waltz Dream at Daly’s London Theater. This gave her an impetus in a new direction and in the character of 'The Ragged Gypsy' she appeared with a group of female violinists during a period of years at the coliseum, the Palladium and other theaters and ultimately toured France and Germany as well as other countries as far as Russia.
In Los Angeles she wrote short stories and articles on music. This literary work attracted attention in New York where she published in the magazine “Shadow Land” an article titled “Two Anzacs Meet in London”, which was so well noticed that she could have easily entered upon a new career.
Crowley (who wrote her name as LAYLAH) referred to her variously as 'Divine Whore', 'Mother of heaven', 'Sister Cybele', 'Scarlet Woman', and most affectionately of all, 'Whore of Babylon'. They studied magick and took mescaline together and it was while with her that Crowley composed some of his most refined poetry.
The band Coil dedicated a song titled 'Paint me as a dead soul' to her (the title comes from Crowley's 'Confessions' where he relates that when one day he wanted to paint her nude she suggested instead that he should: 'paint me as a dead soul'). You can listen to Coil's song here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ednix1ONFDw
Due to the failing health of her father she returned to Sydney after an absence of fifteen years. In Sydney she made appearances with the Conservatorium Orchestra and with the Royal Philharmonic Society of Sydney.
On Tuesday, September 13, 1932, Leila Waddell died from uterine cancer at the young age of 52.
'A Tone Testament' was a piece written by Waddell. The music is meant to be accompanied by reading a poem which can be found here:
http://www.the-equinox.org/vol1/no8/eqi08003.html
The piece has now been successfully recorded into music and you can listen to it here:
