THE REYNOLDS'S NEWSPAPER

London, England

27 March 1910

(page 3)

SECRET SOCIETY.

Head of Rosicrucian Order

Does Not Wish Ritual Disclosed.

The rituals and ceremonies of the Rosicrucian Order, a Secret Society, of which Comte Liddell Macgregor [MacGregor Mathers], who lives at the Avenue, Beckenham, is the head, may now be disclosed. The Lords Justices of Appeal have discharged an interim injunction against Mr. Aleister Crowley preventing him doing so in the “Equinox,” a mystical magazine of which he is editor. Mr. Crowley appealed on the ground that there was no cause for action, and, furthermore, although plaintiff had known since November that these disclosures were to be made by the “Equinox” in March, he did not issue his writ until a few days ago. Mr. Crowley, it was stated, received his inner knowledge of the mysterious Order because in 1898 he was admitted as a member of it. He had been expelled from the Order, but since secrecy was a rule of membership, by making these disclosures Comte Liddell Macgregor contended that he was making “the greatest possible breach of his obligations.” Much to the entertainment of the crowded court, counsel proceeded to read an affidavit made by Comte Liddell Macgregor, in which he described himself as “chief of the Rosicrucian Order, instituted in 1888 for the study of mystical philosophy and the mysteries of antiquity.” Lord Justice Fletcher Moulton asked for a copy of the September “Equinox,” and a heavy tome was handed up. Sir Frank Low (counsel for the Comte) asked the Judge to read an article headed “The Pillar of Cloud.” The article appeared to tickle his Lordship’s fancy immensely, and his two fellow-Judges, upon reading it, also seemed similarly amused. Lord Justice Williams: May I take it there is such a Society as the Rosicrucian Order? Sir F. Low: Yes, there is. Mr. Whately said the article was simply material which Comte Macgregor had got from old books, and that the plaintiff had no copyright at all in the rituals. Lord Justice Farwell selected several strange and unpronounceable words from the “Equinox,” and asked, with a smile, what they meant, but although the Comte was consulted he was unable to enlighten the Judge. Lord Justice Vaughan Williams, in giving judgment, said he was of opinion that the injunction could not stand. He thought the plaintiff had delayed too long before applying for an interim injunction, when he could have applied some six weeks ago, before the expense of printing the number of the “Equinox” which was about to be published had been incurred.