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Correspondence from Aleister Crowley to Kenneth Grant
Aston Clinton, Bucks.
January 10th, 1945
Care Frater,
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law.
I have just got yours of the 8th January and hasten to answer it because from now on I shall not be able to reply to anything until I have got settled down in Hastings where I propose to transport myself today week.
I don’t care what state “The Scarlet Button”[1] is in as long as the copy is complete.
We can discuss the question of Pitman’s later on.
I have no idea where you can get a Blue Equinox which is Vol.3, No. 1 and is bound in blue cloth. Hence the nickname.
As to the Goetia, the same applies though there is a little more hope because it was pirated in the U.S. by some thieving scoundrel. I think it was done photographically so it would be quite as good as the original edition except that it is a little smaller than the original, but I should not bother myself about it if I were you because it really does not matter. There is actually nothing whatever in the book that is worth reading to anyone as advanced as you are. The one interesting point about it was the “initiated interpretation” of ceremonial magic which gave a strictly rationalistic explanation of various thaumaturgical feats. For instance, by invoking some particular Demon you obtain the power to do this, that and the other. For example, to speak languages [un]known to you. This can be explained by supposing that the process of evocation stimulates that section of your brain which helps you to learn languages. The various other miracles can be explained in a similar quite simple way. Now then, you have got as much as you would have if you possessed the book and studied it for 40 years. Don’t expect to hear from me again until I have settled at Hastings.
Love is the law, love under will.
Aleister Crowley pp. J.T. [Janet Taylor][2] Pitman’s Secretarial College, Southampton Row, London.
1—A mystery novel by Anthony Gilbert (Lucy Beatrice Malleson) 2—Crowley's secretary at the time.
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