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Correspondence from Aleister Crowley to Martha Küntzel
THE HOTEL METROPOLE Bruxelles, Belgique
April 21st, 1929
Dear Little Sister:
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.
Yours of the 19th of April. I hope you have got up again.
My attitude with regard to the War is, I admit, very difficult to understand. It is almost a question of double personality. I held that a man is obliged to do his best in the service of his country as a mere point of personal honour, but this has nothing to do with his opinion as to the justice of any matter at issue. In the was I did not believe for one moment that Germany was any more to blame than any other country. In fact I thought and still think that her grievances were intolerable. It was therefore a great relief to my conscience to write the articles that I did.
Suppose we look at it the other way round. Imagine that Von Hindenburg had been intellectually convinced that Russian civilization was of a higher type than German. It would have been, nevertheless, his duty to win the battle of Tennenburg, and if his pro-Russianism had been so strong that he felt it was going to interfere with his duty as a soldier, he should have retired into private life. But in such a case, it would have shown a complete disunion of the Nephesch and Ruach of the man and would have resulted in his total destruction.
Of course there is the question of the higher principles above the Abyss. In this exalted region neither one's intellectual convictions or one's duty as a citizen have any weight. People who are working under the conscious guidance of those principles therefore seek in a quite impersonal manner a solution of the difficulties. Thus, when it came to discussing terms of Peace, it was for me entirely a question of proposing compromises which would have satisfied all political necessities yet with the ulterior object or arranging for a higher degree of civilization to all concerned. For instance, it was evident that France would never be satisfied with anything less than the return of Alsace and Lorraine. On the other hand I thought that Germany should have compensation in the extension of her civilising influence in such countries as Poland, by allowing her to expand Eastward. The real enemy to the enlightenment of mankind is the curious mixture of servility and fanaticism; of mysticism and the instinct to commit crimes which distinguishes Russia. The history of events in Russia, even now, prove this.
The business about boys is all pure nonsense. The same sort of thing can be said about anybody, and there is no way of refuting it, for the simple reason that ordinary sensible people see no scandal in two men dining together, even in private. You notice that there is no limit to this idiocy. If you give a party of twenty people, it merely proves that they are all concerned in some sexual demonstration.
I am very sorry that Gebhardi [Otto Gebhardi] went to bed sick.
I feel sure that there is no reason for you to send financial assistance. The publicity ought to enable us to sign contracts for the "Memoirs" [The Confessions of Aleister Crowley] and so on at much higher prices than we should otherwise have got.
I think you might very well prepare a little article for important Berlin newspapers, etc., giving my point of view as above explained. The German is above all things faithful, just, and reasonable, and it is exactly to them that I look for a real understanding an appreciation of my attitude.
So do not loose courage. Work without lust of result and leave the event to the Gods, who are evidently taking charge of the whole situation. I should imagine that They must be having quite a lot of fun over there.
Love is the law, love under will.
Yours fraternally
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