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Correspondence from Karl Germer to Jane Wolfe
K. J. GERMER 133 West 71st Street 260 W. 72 New York, N. Y. ENDICOTT 2-6799
December 2, 1943
Dear Jane,
93
Your letter of Nov. 27 with the copy of the one to A.C. have given me much joy. I hope you are conscious of it yourself, that you have quite changed in the last few months, every letter that comes from you proves it more and more.—I wish I could say the same thing about Frederick [Frederic Mellinger]; not only I, but also Sascha [Sascha Germer] feel it acutely, that the Smith [Wilfred T. Smith] atmosphere is still clinging to him. But I have hopes. In his case it seems to me that of the female soul in the male body that has not much interest in females, but searches for the real male, and wants to love. Evidently in Smith he has satisfied his urge—I am not speaking of any physical relations, no need for that—and he has not been able to replace it and find the 'love' of another man. (I am about the worst subject he could pick; also there is a subtle but noticeable jealousy on his part toward Sascha—all quite natural. But he should see it and trace the urge and place it in right relation.)
Paul has not written. Is there any need for it? Unlike A.C. or others, I dislike people confiding in me. (I never wanted children; I suppose I dislike responsibility generally.) I will ask Frederic to comment on Paul's chart and send it to you. I do hope he shows his right spirit to help the Work first by contributing regularly.
I will ask Frederic to comment on Hugh's [Hugh Christopher] chart which I have drawn up.
I understand your reaction to Miller [Joe Miller]. He succeeded in bluffing me. Also, he sent me a $10 contribution and said larger ones were to follow. Later he repudiated to ever have written that. He fooled Max [Max Schneider] too, it appears because he made a good impression on him and it was due to that that I agreed that Max give him the IX° document. Since that he's independent and does not send a cent. He should do just the opposite to show his recognition of what the Order had given to him. I had a letter from A.C. about him: he says all his qabalistic stuff is pure bunk. Yet, I am going to write him some stern note about contributions.
About yourself: you know the fact that if any living being has missed some vital phase in childhood or the appropriate experiences at the later stages of his or her development, the crave becomes dormant and craves for satisfaction. A child, for instance wants to play. If that need is thwarted in childhood, it will continuously break out, perhaps in ridiculous ways, at a grown-up stage and looks silly. If a boy needed a girl during his teen-age and in the twenties, and was thwarted, this will have its consequences later. In other words every natural urge corresponding to any phase of growth should be satisfied and not repressed, else it will persecute one later.—What Frederic evidently meant about you, that some natural weed was thwarted by environment or education when you were 15 or thereabouts, the unsatisfied urge has remained, and whenever placed in the proper environment, comes out. I think this is just one of the tragedies, and you can't change the facts of your life—but, you can understand them.
Dec. 5
All the above is very incoherent, but I haven't the time to re-write it.—One more word about the end paragraphs of your letter to me: You see, you don't need advice, you can find it all in yourself. I think that those so-called visible experiences are not the vital ones—at least not for all. The essential thing is the gradual, unnoticeable transformation of the human being on the magical planes, and, as you say, then the personality 'must radiate and convince others more subtly than by speech.' As the old German mystics said: "you must leave the images behind" and reach those spheres where there is no more form, and where, I think, spiritual truths are no longer conveyed by visible experiences. Though I may be mistaken on this. But I myself have—to my knowledge never had any visible spiritual or magical experience.
I am sending you herewith copy of a letter from A.C. to Phyllis [Phyllis Seckler]. Please find out whether she has received the original. If not, let her copy this copy and return A.C.'s copy to me.
I am also sending you copy of a V-mail letter I had from Grady McMurtry. Some of the passages were indecipherable. You can keep this. I want you fully informed.
Furthermore: copy of a letter from A.C. to Smith. Please return this to me.
Then I am sending you copy of A.C.'s letter to Jack Parsons. Please return this immediately, I would copy it, but haven't the time.
A.C. wrote me a long letter, and agrees with all my suggestions. In particular to dissolve the Agape Lodge. No, I better send you A.C.'s letter in original. Please return this to me also at once. I will have to sit down and steal the time soon to carry out A.C.'s instructions with regard to notifying the members of Agape Lodge that it is dissolved; give them G.H.Q. [Grand Head Quarters] reasons for it to some extent; then ask them to communicate with me if they wish to give some new pledge (a thing I hate to ask, because it appears so silly after the past experiences.): and to either contact me or Max, or Roy [Roy Leffingwell], or you, if they wish to continue Work in some form. Then the main thing is to inspire them with a new enthusiasm.
When you have the time, please give me your views and comments on the best methods to continue and build some thing new. How do you stand now with Max? If A.C.'s interpretation of the phase in which Max is now, correspondence with mine, Max would not be the most suitable focus for quite some time to come.
I think this is all for to-day, you have enough to digest anyway.
Love and all best wishes.
93 93/93
Yours ever,
Karl
P.S. As to Betty [Betty Northrup], please understand quite plainly that both A.C. and I counted her the vampire, always sent to Neophytes as a test. Unless Jack succeeds in passing the test, he'll be useless. But it's no use telling him in plain words, as I did. It doesn't help it only harms. K.
PPS. What are your relations with the Burliingames [Ray and Mildred]? He and Mildred have shown very great and constant devotion in the last months so I contacted them. Ray has quite a group of people who had been active, but the group is somewhat dispersed. They wrote me asking me to contact them and get them to work and send regular contributions. They thought several of those people would be glad to do something.
Now Ray and Mildred have the greatest admiration for you. Would you not have the time and chance—as they also live in Los Angeles—4424-1/2 Sunset Boulevard—to contact first them and keep the others into a group which you could loosely form? I don't see why you should not become the focus for quite a group which you could rule subtly and discretely, without their being even conscious or aware of it? This is just a thought, let it brood in your brain and let me know.
The tragedy of isolated groups is often that if they don't see some visible progress, that they are liable to lose hope and confidence and gradually begin to stray away. If however they get some news from or about GHQ occasionally, it is like being directly connected with the blood and life current and stream of the Order, and it may help them to push their efforts.
Please let me know about this. I find it so difficult to contact all those people of Ray's group at this distance when I don't know them personally, what they are doing, thinking or what their situation in life is.
K.
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