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Correspondence from Aleister Crowley to Kenneth Grant
The Ridge Hastings, Sussex
February 7th, 1945
Care Frater,
Very many thanks for your registered letter with the Mohur, which I found waiting me on my arrival. It is exactly what I wanted, and I must congratulate you most heartily on your success for it is a much better coin than the one which I nearly bought a year ago and for which they wanted £ 9.10. Talking of money, will it bother you very much to wait till after the 16th before I send it to you? The move was rather expensive, the car hire alone amounted to £15; and as I have not yet made any arrangements here about my board I do not want to leave myself absolutely flat, so if you don’t mind waiting till my cable arrives you will make me very happy. The coin is just what I wanted, and your interpretation of it shows excellent Qabalistic thinking.
I have not yet had time to go into Hastings to ask about booksellers. In the meanwhile, a new scheme has entered the region of imagination. There is a cottage in the grounds here with two bedrooms, and (I gather) a kitchen and everything else that one wants, and it might be possible to arrange for us to occupy it. We could have meals in the house or as might otherwise be arranged. Now about finances: let me first explain that the owner of this place seems to have got into his head something very like the Abbey of Thelema which I started in Cefalu so many years ago. There is little or no service in the ordinary sense of the term; I have not yet got the hang of things but apparently everybody lends a hand when required more or less. Of course they are looking for regular help.
It has occurred to me that you might be willing to offer your services in return for board and lodging. You would give them so many hours a day, and keep an hour for working with me, and some time for yourself to work on your stenography and typing. There is no doubt a good school in Hastings; in fact, it is a comparatively civilised place. I have not broached the subject to the proprietor so far, as he is working with the Repertory Company here and does not get back till pretty late at night, and the lady of the house has been looking after a sister who has been dangerously ill. (Very strange! she is the fourth person of my acquaintance within the last month who has had to go away to look after a sister dangerously ill). But I have a feeling that some sort of arrangement might be come to.
I don’t think you ought to have any compunction. After all, if you went to a Guru in India, your first seven years would be solely devoted to delousing the Holy Man from time to time. I have also thought you ought to be able to induce your people or some of your wealthy aunts to grub-stake you in this gold mine.
Here are some suggestions for encouraging any such people. In the first place you would be carving out a career for yourself as opposed to an odd job. You will see of course that I could not get the O.T.O. to pay you a regular salary until you have fitted yourself completely for the post.
You would find a certain number of social or literary advantages in joining forces with me. You would meet people like Viscount Tredegar, Lady Aberconway, Lady Frieda [Frieda Harris] Louis Marlow [Louis Wilkinson], Clifford Bax, and a number of other people, acquaintance with whom would be invaluable to you in the life of London.
In the second place, after my death you would become invaluable to the O.T.O., as being able to carry on with everything at the tips of your fingers, and I have no doubt that the Grand Treasurer of the O.T.O. would pay you a very good salary to look after the English side of the business.
Louis Marlow has accepted the position of my literary executor, and he will want an assistant. You would obviously be the man for the position; and for this work, too, you would be paid on a generous scale.
Please remember that so far this scheme is merely a wish-phantasm in my own disordered imagination, and it is really rather up to you to improve on it and materialise it.
Love is the law, love under will.
Fraternally
666
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