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Correspondence from Aleister Crowley to Gerald Yorke
55 Avenue de Suffren, Paris, VII
January 5th, 1929.
Care Frater:
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.
Thanks for the two ephemerides.
A rather extended magical ceremony last night gave us—among other things—more "Light on the Path". It appears that Aumont [Gerard Aumont] gauged Mr. Hunt's [Carl de Vidal Hunt] intellectual capacity much more accurately than either you or I, and proceeded to pull his leg by a tale of my raping a little girl in Tunis;—and—this is where he really became funny!—and that his family put up enormous sums of money to hush the matter up.
Hunt swallowed this, hook line and sinker, and wrote off that idiotic letter to you under the impression that he had some genuine information at last!
You had already read Aumont's postscript of his letter of the 23rd December—which letter I return, as per request.
I remember that you were agloat that the Capri story is less evidential than most.
Please come down to brass tacks about this nonsense. What stories are in any way evidential? It seems to me that, perhaps unknown to yourself, your mind is being infiltrated by the idea that if you only add enough naughts together they will make at least one.
I am really a little concerned about you. I am always nervous when someone signs the Oath of the Probationer. It seems like chucking oneself overboard. I have been through it, and I know. . . .
I hope that the Vision and the Voice will be ready within a week. But it is a very difficult work, as the pages have to be arranged so that the footnotes fall as they should. My idea is to have a book which can be published separately.
There is another difficulty about this book. The intensity of the Visions is such that after all these years I can hardly bring myself to read a page, at least of the more important Aethyrs. I think if I were in the desert, I might be able to stand the magical strain. But as things are, I am simply shaken like a leaf at the mere touch of these things.
This prevents me from supervising Regardie's [Israel Regardie] work as I should. There were a few omissions of quotations, etc., in my manuscript, and I don't seem to be able to force myself to look for them. If you could understand what this means, you would be very much encouraged, and very careful.
I am really in despair as to what to do about this question of moving. To find a suitable place is going to be a hard job. I don't see how I can leave Paris at all, much as I should like to go South, for it is certain, if anything is certain, that those printers will want to be worried as by a bulldog. I ought to be on the spot, day and night. I ought to make absolutely certain of the returning of the proofs as they come out within twenty four hours. If you have ever had anything to do with the production of a book, you would know about this.
There is also the question of making all sorts of business arrangements with regard to the distribution, and really I don't think the publication of the book is going to be helped if I am thrown into the gutter.
Madame de Miramar [Maria de Miramar] thinks that this apartment will do perfectly well for ceremonial, if we get her a piece of canvas on which she can paint the circle. This can be put down when we want to work, while the furniture can be moved into the dining-room or the hall.
I do think that this is honest-to-god good sense.
When you vacillate, it has the most paralyzing effect on the work.
The Lecram Press [Paris printers] promised me still more faithfully than before, over the telephone, this morning, that the new sample page would appear in the course of the day, and I shall mail you a copy as soon as I get it. If they cannot produce a satisfactory page, I shall turn the whole thing over to Herbert Clark or the Pegasus Press, whose boss I see Monday.
I am still on the sick list, but expect to be all right in a week.
Love is the law, love under will.
Yours fraternally,
666.
Gerald Yorke, Esq., 9, Mansfield Street, London, W. 1.
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