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Correspondence from Aleister Crowley to Kenneth Grant
The Ridge St. Leonard’s-on-Sea
9th July, 1945
Care Frater,
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law.
Thanks for your letter which arrived just in time to prevent me writing a stinker to your esteemed progenitor.
What you do not grasp is the purpose of my remarks. When I say I want a daily record of your activities on my behalf it is not because I am impatient or need them, it is because I am trying to get you into maintaining the discipline of the Order. It is natural for you to think ‘Well, I did nothing yesterday; I have nothing to report, so I need not do it’. That is simply missing the point. I am trying you in half a dozen different ways, because the great fault that you have and one which will ultimately make it impossible for you even to pretend to carry out the great work is just that you cannot force yourself to be regular, punctual, accurate, and until you make it an absolute habit to exercise these virtues how do you think you are going to get on? when it is a question of pranayama or of work like the sacred magick of Abramelin?
Miss [Janet] Kingston[1] suggests that The Heart of the Master has come back to you, like certain other parcels, because it was not properly packed, so far those sent by her have gone forward without difficulty.
The same remarks as above apply to this question of clothes. There should, for example, be a double-breasted black jacket with waistcoat and pin striped trousers, and there should be 2 silk waistcoats—a black and a white one. You do not give a proper list. Most of the things I cannot identify. You must learn to do things properly.
Of course Miss Manning does not care for you looking after my things, but she would prefer even that to taking on her own responsibilities. I wonder if her spirits have told her what is coming to her, but I cannot start to switch on the electrocution machine until I have an exact and accurate list of the clothes.
You really are a joke. You write “please excuse this speedy note but I will have to devote this afternoon to packing your copies of The Heart of the Master”. Why should it take more than 5 minutes at the outside to pack 6 copies of a small book?
Love is the law, love under will,
Yours fraternally,
pp A. Crowley M. K[ingston]
1—Crowley's secretary/typist at the time.
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