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Correspondence from Charles Stansfeld Jones to Aleister Crowley
P.O. Box 70 Vancouver. B.C.
Sep 17th 1916.E.V.
Father,
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.
I have been thinking things over very seriously, since I wrote you last; I see clearly that the situation must be faced, and I want to put things before you, for your consideration before we make a definite change in things here.
You have recently made many suggestions as to the various courses of action that might be adopted to put things on a better footing; they are in reality all more or less impractible under the circumstances, considering the position we are in. Let us consider three of the most important questions:
(1) The teaching and spreading of the New Law.
(2) The upkeep and enlargement of the Lodge here.
(3) The putting into practice of certain theories, necessitating the most absolute freedom, on my part, to get into touch with and spend time with, a large number of fresh acquaintances, outside the Order, both for magical reasons and in order to arouse interest in those with money and in positions of importance.
(1) We can all do our best by using the greetings etc. talking of the teachings and circulating tracts and other papers, to the best of our ability.
(b) We are quite evidently not properly living up to the teachings. I have at present not found one who is in a position to do this, myself included among the number of the 'slaves'. It is evident that in every instance I must set the example, if the others are to follow, but whereas under the old Aeon if one was poor 'renunciation' accounted for it and all went well, it is quite another matter in this instance where in order to carry out things properly one must be in a position to do all things well and in the best possible manner. I may have the knowledge, but I cannot give it to them, and am at present in no position to demonstrate it, while I am wasting time talking to them and trying to square up first one set of troubles and then another.
(2) The Lodge is producing no income, and is a continual drag on the slender resources of one or two. It is situated as you know at a distance from the city, and it costs the few who come to it from the other side, more for car and ferry fares that their subscription amounts to, consequently they don’t pay their subscriptions, because they find it more than they can afford. We only had four, besides ourselves, from the North Shore, and two have left the City. The other two have been regular in attendance, have paid well, though never more than their actual fees in reality, at the same time they doubtless think they are in some way keeping us, and at the same time one of them has certainly done some little harm by too much gossip, and the other is a bit disgruntled because he cannot get the girl he wants, she having decided to stay away, and in any case, if he did but know it, I had my eye on her myself. (I refer to M) R.S.J. [Rubina Stansfeld Jones] and W. are more of less allright, because they wanted each other and I gave R. freely, but when all is said and done this might rather be put down to 'renunciation' on my part, and therefore does not help much. Outside these six, there are no other really reliable people, and W. [Howard White] is now out of work, leaving S. [Wilfred Talbot Smith] and myself to pay all expenses on $60 and $70 a month respectively. Two houses and two families to support in the mean while. It don’t leave a big margin for printing and mimeographing, and Grand Lodge dues, and Lecture Halls, and entertainment of various kinds, does it? To say nothing of paying off pressing matters of various. For all that, we have always managed to keep ‘open house’ for everyone that likes to drop in for a meal, and to put people up, and that sort of thing, for which one gets no thanks in the long run, as very recently proved after keeping a certain person for nearly two months.
Now, under the circumstances,
would it not be better, if we gave up the house here, and
took a flat in town, thus saving fare, light, and
particularly fuel in the winter. I don’t see how we are
going to keep warm here, as it costs as much again as the
rent to heat the place in the cold months, and poor R.S.J.
had a very bad spell of it last winter on that account. On
the other hand, the few who are earnest, can meet in an
ordinary room, and get up fresh plans, and should we really
need to Initiate, we can hire a Lodge room for the purpose.
By so doing, I can get about more in the evenings and get to
know fresh people, eventually maybe I shall find a ‘real
good one’ and we can make a proper start again with the
Degree work. I cannot do everything at once, and I want to
know the best thing to hand on to, for I am just as
determined as ever to go ahead somehow, and I won’t give in
anyway. (3) This latter idea gives a better chance in this direction.
Please let me know, by return, what you think, as I don’t want to leave it too late, if we are going to move, also let me know if you have any intention of passing through Vancouver in the near future.
I met Checkie, he says he has enlisted. It’s about the best thing he could have done, I think.
Love is the Law, Love under Will.
Fraternally,
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