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Correspondence from Aleister Crowley to William Bernard Crow
Aston Clinton, Bucks.
October 11th, 1944
Care Frater,
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.
I enclose the Word of the Equinox. I do now know how it is that I have not answered your letter of September 7th, but perhaps you mean October 7th, for I certainly did not receive it till two or three days ago. The Jermyn Street address [93 Jermyn Street] is no good for this purpose. You certainly cannot celebrate the Mass [Gnostic Mass] there. The Mass has to be done in a proper Temple. Somewhere or other I have some photographs of the Altar complete with priestess, but I cannot lay my hands on them at the moment; so I am having a search made. When they appear, you shall see them. In any case, you have to build up the Mass properly from the beginning. We cannot have any makeshifts, as is possible in putting over Masonic Rituals.
I really think that the most practical plan is to collect a number of people to form a nucleus to initiate them into the Minerval Degree. This is a pre-Masonic Degree, and there is, therefore, no possible clash with the Grand Lodge. It is very convenient, and capable of rousing great enthusiasm because of its dramatic character. There is no Temple difficulty; it should be worked out of doors. You ought really to have a reasonable large desert with one tree, preferably a palm, and a tent. With one or two cushions, and a scimitar or so, you are perfectly happy. It is perhaps best to have a couple of camels, but if that is not convenient, horses will do perfectly well. In fact, it has been worked quite satisfactorily with automobiles, or even on foot. Perhaps the greatest advantage of all is that the ceremony only requires two officers, though it is usual to have a third man, in ordinary costume, to lead the candidate to the neighborhood of the camp. The best time to do this ritual is round about midnight. The costumes are very simple and inexpensive. I daresay we could make shift with what you already have. When we have got from 30 to 50 people made Minervals, we ought to be able to secure sufficient co-operation and support to put on the Degrees from I° - 3°; equally, this group could work together to perform the Mass.
With regard to Jermyn Street, however, I think it would only lead to trouble if you failed to keep these activities on your part entirely separate from my own. I do not want to appear in them myself. It will be much better if only you, and perhaps three or four other people whom you can trust, know of our relations.
I share your worry about Cardinal Newman (I wonder he did not manage to avoid this somehow, the coincidence of name and title is really too cruel.) By the way I have a note from him, dated October 4th: "Archbishop Mar Georgius presents his compliments to Mr. Aleister Crowley, thanks him for his letter to which he will reply at an early date.
My letter to him was perfectly friendly and helpful, and I think this is intended to be rather rude. I smell it. That, moreover, is not the only thing which I smell. I want to ask you in the very strictest confidence one or two very private questions about him. Your statement that you are worrying about him emboldens me to place confidence in you in this matter.
I want to know a little more about all these titles and letters. I understand your D.Sc., which I think is London University. I fancy you told me so, and your Ph.D. is, I suppose, Munich or Heidelberg, or somewhere like that. But I want to know about his D.D. and D.C.L. What University conferred these Degrees upon him? It is with great reluctance; but I admit that I cannot help a feeling that there is something bogus about all these. ("Me thinks the Lady doth protest too much")! His position is so exalted, and his attainments so eminent, that I find is a matter of some surprise that I have never heard even now of anything that he has actually done. I do not pretend to understand the Patriarchate of Antioch; but I do not quite know what 'Cardinal' means. Can you have a Cardinal without having a Pope?
I hate to have to write a question of this sort, but I am really more than a little disturbed in my own mind. There ought surely to be a Governing Body with a local habitation as well as a name, and if you have Governors there ought to be some people who are governed. Otherwise the whole thing seems to be so completely fantastic.
To return to your letter. The O.T.O. is not working openly in this country. We have a number of members but they are very scattered, and it is not practical for me at least to start Lodge work again. Please to remember that tomorrow I enter my 70th year, and I have so much to do in other ways that I should be a perfect fool to bite off more than I can chew. For a young and enthusiastic man like yourself it is very different: and if you appear in six months' time with a bouquet of merry Minervals, there is no reason why we should not go ahead. I will appear if and when I am wanted, and some of the other members may doubtless find time to assume the functions of the officers necessary for working the Degrees. When I reconstituted the whole system of ritual I was exceedingly careful not to multiply officers. I had a lot of experience of this when I put on the rites of Eleusis; even at that time I kept the figure as low as possible, but were actually obliged to appear in public at Caxton Hall with some of the rituals never having been rehearsed even once by the full number of officers. Things, as you will have no difficulty in believing, are much more difficult today, than they were thirty-five years ago.
I am altogether opposed to meetings, especially when the Agenda consists of vague discussion as to what should be done, what can be done, how, when,, and so on. This business has got to be worked automatically. You must tell your people what they have to do, and see that they do it. I most strongly advise you to keep all the strings in your own hands. If there is any branch that has to be deputed to somebody else, then say to him what I am saying to you now. If you once get a crowd of people running after their own tails, and pestering you at every hour of the day or night about something or other which means nothing at all, your life won't be worth living.
It might of course be a good plan to arrange for a very small and very carefully selected number of people to meet me, but I think you ought to make this a little difficult for them. Explain that it is a remarkable privilege, and they will have to come out to Aston Clinton with you on a day fixed by yourself.
For Heaven's sake let them be people of some weight. To revert for a moment to the Cardinal Archbishop, he says that he is most anxious to see me personally, and regrets profoundly that it should be impossible. The impression he makes on me is that he has not got the fare! You cannot possibly support a movement of any scope if it is liable to be held up at any moment by a matter of a few shillings.
I return the proof approved. The die had better be in the centre of the page at the top.
Thank you very much for your list of fabulous beings. It is really very kind of you to have given yourself so much trouble. It will, however, be sometime before I can make proper use of it for I have got so much work on my hands that any moment I am liable to scream.
Love is the law, love under will,
Yours fraternally,
Aleister Crowley.
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