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Correspondence from Bertha Van Brunt to Aleister Crowley
Los Angeles
17 May 36
Dear Mr Crowley
I am sure you were surprised to receive my cable. Before telling you my troubles I want you to know that I was very glad to hear that you were back again in London fully recovered from the long siege of illness which took you to the south away from London fogs for so long a time.
I am submitting to you a few facts of recent experiences and would be most grateful for your opinion on the matter. My reason for writing to you is, that before anything happened on the physical plane, I had this vision of you. I was down in a dark place with a Hindu, the one you said would keep me "dangling around until I lost my mind"; not only did I nearly lose my mind, but my life. He was packing a black suit case with a lot of filth and threw it at me. I felt something moving in it—opened it and pulled out a large—warm—headless—bloody—black cat; the head had been torn off.
It seemed as if there were two of me watching this when suddenly you came running towards me with several shadowy figures but there was nothing shadowy about you. Your body looked as if a lamp was lit under it. I saw nothing more but I felt you were taking care of a desperate situation.
About this time, approximately two years ago, I had this vision: A black disc about three feet in diameter dropped on my head and revolved at a tremendous speed. Then there was an earthquake inside me.
At this time I was under the care of a physician who is an occultist and also a physician who is a Seventh Day Adventist. Suddenly I lost consciousness and the Seventh Day Adventist had me put in a sanatorium, had himself appointed guardian, took over my bank box, and it cost me over 2000 dollars to get out of his clutches. He had the help of a woman, charter member of the T[heosophical] S[ociety], 32° Mason. I was totally unconscious for several weeks and it was said that I had been poisoned. I have been nursing for several years and the doctors, Public Defender and my sister in Detroit came to my rescue. The doctor made a desperate fight to retain the guardianship of a 3,500 dollar estate out of which was paid the 2000 dollars.
The occultist doctor went to India without seeing me, or making any effort to help me out of my difficulty. He will remain there about two years.
January 13 1936 in a dream I saw a star rise. February 12 1936 I saw a child perhaps twelve years of age taken from me by a young man who handed it to someone whom I could not see and that person insisted on getting a chisel which I did not have. After this something began to move inside of me first coming in from the feet, then to the solar plexus, then on up the head where there has been a whirling and pounding which I could not stop.
Of course I was frightened—thought of vampires—dweller—kundalini—black magicians. I asked the Hindu and first he said it was something very evil—then it was obsession by a friend, then the subconscious and finally he said it was simply a physical disturbance having no inner or spiritual significance whatsoever.
I asked James Pryse—he said that the horrible experience through which I had gone, had released certain energies. That didn't mean a thing to me, I knew that much. I even asked a priest in my neighbourhood and I believe he really knew something. He said "I should think you would be frightened, God is calling you back to Himself".
It is amazing that with all our self-styled initiates—adepts—masters—chelas etc here in Los Angeles, that no one seems to know what is happening.
Won't you please give me some light on the subject even if it is not good?
Sincerely
Bertha Van Brunt.
Postage enclosed.
[Crowley to Wilfred Talbot Smith on the back of the above letter.]
Attention of Frater 132.
Advised her to write to you, and put herself unreservedly in your hands.
P.S. I met Paul Case. Not too bad, if he has settled down and doesn't try to be too clever.
666
Your P.S. was O.K.
T[o] M[ega] Th[erion]
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