THE MARSHALL MESSENGER

Marshall, Texas, U.S.A.

19 November 1910

(page 5)

News and Views.

Chiefly Literary and Artistic.

Not long ago there appeared in London a magazine called the Equinox. It was edited by the poet Aleister Crowley, and devoted to the study of the occult and revival of esoteric mysteries. Recently Mr. Crowley arranged in London a series of celebrations called “The Rites of the [sic] Eleusis.” Here is a description of these “Rites”:

1. The rite opens with a litany of lamentation.

2. The Mother of Heaven plays an invocation on the violin, her back to those present.

3. The Master of the Temple, seated by the ceremonial fire, called the Hell Broth, recites “The Eyes of Pharoah.”

4. The suspected traitor, having been found is slain with a spear.

5. After it has been discovered that the temple is empty, the master recites a translation of Verlaine’s “Colloque Sentimental” and Swinburne’s “Garden of Prosperine.”

6. Impelled by the despair which he has expressed by a recital of Thomson’s “The City of Dreadful Night,” the master kills himself by the side of the Messenger of Joy, who has fallen exhausted by the altar; the Mother of Heaven weeps over him, and, for a moment, the Angel of Death is seen.

What a galimatias of nonsense and stupidity for a gifted man to go into when half a million unemployed are walking the streets of London.