THE SUN

Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

15 April 1934

(page 1)

BLACK MAGIC BASIS IN STRANGE LIBEL SUIT.

JUDGE SHOCKED BY DISCLOSURES.

BLOOD-DRINKING ALLEGED AGAINST A POET.

AUTHORESS TELLS OF WEIRD

TEMPLE IN SICILY.

MYSTERY OF BABY.

"Sunday Sun" Special

LONDON, Saturday.

"Never have I heard such dreadful, horrible, blasphemous, abominable stuff as that produced by a man describing himself as the 'greatest living poet,' " said Mr. Justice Swift, summing up in a King's Bench action in which Aleister Crowley sued the authoress, Nina Hamnett, alleging that she had libelled him in a book entitled "Laughing Torso."

"I have been engaged for 40 years in the administration of the law," the judge added, "and I thought I knew of every conceivable form of wickedness, but now I know I can always learn something."

Crowley alleged that Miss Hamnett had imputed that he practised black magic at the Temple of Cefalu, Sicily, where a baby was once reported to have mysteriously disappeared.

The jury returned a verdict for Miss Hamnett.

Crowley, who was formerly at Cambridge University, denied that he had practised black magic. He had fought it all his life, because it was suicidal, he said. He had travelled all over the world studying religions. His temple, he said, was only decorated with frescoes similar to the religious paintings in Notre Dame.

"The Beast 666"

He denied that he had advised his associates to cut themselves with razors as punishment, and that he had forced men to shave their heads except for a symbolic curl.

He also denied that he had forced women to dye their heads red.

He explained that he took the designation of "The Beast 666" because it meant sunlight. "You can call me Little Sunshine," he added, amid laughter.

Crowley denied having sacrificed animals and having invited people to drink their blood. He also denied having obscenely invoked Pan, and having published filth, advocating unrestricted sexual freedom.

Human Sacrifice

He said he contributed to pathological works in circulation among students. He denied that his magic, like his poetry, involved eroticism, and added that when he wrote sonnets about "Black Mass" he was denouncing it.

Counsel read from a book written by Crowley in which he stated that "bloody sacrifice was the most efficacious way or practising magic, while human sacrifice was best."

Crowley explained that this was a scientific theory. He denied that a baby had disappeared from Cefalu.

"Scarlet Woman"

Mrs. Betty Sedgwick [Betty May], authoress of "Tiger Woman," and formerly Epstein's [Jacob Epstein] model, gave evidence that the Temple of Cefalu had a magic circle on the floor and improper paintings on the walls.

Crowley, she said, presided over ceremonies in which his "spiritual wife," [Leah Hirsig] also named the "Scarlet Woman," participated. Once after three hours' invocation, a cat was killed, and its blood was drunk.

Counsel for the defence said that Crowley had preyed on weak-minded people for years.

He hoped the proceedings would end Crowley's "hypocritical activities," he added.

After the jury had announced its verdict in favor of Miss Hamnett, Crowley said: "The judgment is the verdict of the gods."

He added that he is considering an appeal.