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Correspondence from Aleister Crowley to Vincent Yorke (Gerald Yorke's Father)
89 Park Mansions S.W.1.
July 17 [1930]
Dear Mr. Yorke
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law
It is unfortunate that the more reasonable and right is any act of mine, the more it appears the malignant cunning of a monster.
I am indeed so Machiavellian as to agree in some important respects with the views of your parents.
I think Gerald [Gerald Yorke] is in serious danger of a nervous breakdown; the cause is obviously the attempt to destroy his independence of thought and action.
But if this pressure were wholly removed, if both he and I were perfectly free agents, I should have no hesitation in advising him very strongly to do just what his parents wish: to leave for a time his preoccupation with Magick, and to lead a life of physical hard work and adventure in new scenes. This was the means which I always used when I was training, and it certainly saved me from a great deal of trouble.
What I want to do is to make it possible for him to go away on some journey involving close contact and struggle with primitive Nature, as preliminary to his projected appointment in J.A. But he must have no anxiety or self-reproach to disturb him, he must feel that he has won his fight.
I am myself expecting to be away for at least a year, for health's sake.
Love is the law, love under will.
Yours sincerely
Aleister Crowley
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