THE BIRMINGHAM GAZETTE

Birmingham, Warwickshire, England

17 April 1929

(page 1)

EXPELLED FROM PARIS.

ENGLISHMAN’S “BLACK MAGIC” DENIAL.

Paris, Tuesday.

Mr. Alistair [sic] Crowley, an Englishman, has been refused the privilege of remaining in France, and is leaving here for Brussels to-morrow morning.

Interviewed regarding the charges brought against him in the newspaper “Paris-midi,” Mr. Crowley said he had received a “refus de sejour” (refusal of the right to stay) in France from the French Government some time ago, in which he was in-formed that he must leave Paris by 9 March.

This refusal of permission to remain here was confirmed at the Prefecture of Police, where officials denied that the refusal had anything to do with charges of espionage.

“I demand an open inquiry into all the charges against me,” said Mr. Crowley last night, “from charges that I have been employed as a German spy to those accusing me of being an exponent of black magic.

“I frankly confess that I do not know why I am refused permission to live in France. The difficulty started when I went to renew my identity card. I was then sent a pink slip telling me I was refused the right to sojourn in France, and must leave by 9 March, but I managed to stay on in spite of all the efforts of my enemies.

“I am certain that if an open inquiry were held, not a single witness would come out against me.

“As for being a spy for Germany,” he continued, “I can only say that I am a true-born British citizen, and have done my best for my country as a counterspy for the Naval Intelligence Department in Britain.

“As for the black-magic charges, they arise from a layman’s ignorance of the term. Black magic means working against oneself, but I do not teach that. In all my books I teach the exaltation of the consciousness towards the Divine.”

“I have held magic séances,” concluded Mr. Crowley, “in which ritual invocations were made, but there was never any-thing bordering on black magic.”

He added that his secretary, a young American boy named Israel Regarie [sic] [Israel Regardie], and his fiancée, Mlle. Ferrara de Miramai [sic] [Maria de Miramar], a Nicaraguan, had both previously been forced to leave France by the French Government. “I will see them both to-morrow in Brussels,” he said.