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Correspondence from Aleister Crowley to Mrs. Graham (Aelfrida Tillyard)
[27 June 1913]
Dear Sarasvati,
It is owing to the serpent that I have cherished in my bosom, the creature that has wormed her way into my confidence, of whom you have already had to complain, that your records have not been returned. She will now make amends by doing so, and they are accordingly enclosed.
I have not had time to deal with you [ . . . ?]
We will agree to differ about physical love.
When you say cruelty is bad in itself you assert an a priori knowledge of the Absolute which involves god in the toils [?] of Satan [?].
I though you would be afraid of Mr. [Mrs.?] Cremers.
You have my address in Paris quite correctly and no doubt we shall manage to meet.
With regard to more important matters I do not mean that you were simply day-dreaming. There was undoubtedly a real explosion, but your natural tendency to confuse things causes explanation to be comparatively mild so far as these results are concerned. Just as a heap of gunpowder in the open can be fired without damage. An experience like yours in the mind of a butcher would probably mean insanity or death. I think you will find more difficulty in controlling the mind than you suppose. Your innate tendency, ancestral or otherwise, to mysticism has to be combated.
About the books. I am very distressed as to what you say about the Necklace, but as you are very fond of it, what can I say. Anyway it is not my funeral as I have nothing to do with the business here. There is nothing in my Collected Works of much interest. Mrs. Cremers [Vittoria Cremers] is sending you a set of Equinoxes. You will find all the official instructions of the A∴A∴ very valuable and much that is useful in the TSK [Temple of Solomon the King]. She is sending you a 777. It is all very well to say that the language [?] is a jargon, but so is the language of Algebra. In order to be able to talk about these things commonly [?], we had to show a correspondence between the different systems of religion, and it was necessary to have some basis. Once you understand the tree of life you find it very easy and very useful. In 777 you will see how we have formulated these from various religions.
Logic will certainly not hurt you. Keynes was my teacher at Cambridge and his 'Formal Logic' has always been one of my favorite books for lighter reading.
You asked where I think you will get to ultimately, and of course the answer is "same as everybody else". Now you have got the Equinox I should like you to study in there "Aha" and Adonis, of which I am very proud. This is a frightfully hurried letter, but I have to catch a train.
Yours fraternally.
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