|
Correspondence from Aleister Crowley to Louis Umfreville Wilkinson
10 Apr 46
Yours of the 4 April.
I am very sorry that the books did not arrive. Apparently you cannot get them sent to me without going there yourself. I do not see why. They came Tuesday. Alas, I can't read them. All the copies seem alike; had each been done separately by a monk, I might have found one that I could manage. As it is, I have had to stab. Well, each stab draws rich blood: I look forward to a great time when my glasses come. Writing is done more by faith than by sight; and I don't know how I shall fare, going through this for literals.
Now I want to talk to you very seriously. The thing that you are writing in the book is not an 'introduction' simply—but an Essay. I was worrying about you all yesterday when I was not writing Poetry, which I did to the extent of no less than two poems. I want you to be very careful not to pull your punches, that is what Stephenson [P.R. Stephensen] did, and made his books a flop; he wanted to be judicial; and merely gave the impression of being half-hearted. What we are trying to do is of first rate importance: in your case it may mean the fulfillment of the whole of your life's work as a Revolutionary Thinker. You have done a great deal in an indirect manner in your fiction, and directly in some of your essays, especially let me mention the two that I printed in the International, but you have never succeeded in getting yourself attacked as a fiend of the pit, so far as I can remember; and, what is really more important, you have never till now had a basis of positive philosophy. Debunking is really the easiest thing in the world on almost any subject, and you leave no positive impression in your victim's mind, all he can do is to sigh and say "Another illusion gone".
I am thinking of the possible practical result of the publication. You are a comparatively young man and unquestionably full of energy: the question is whether you are prepared to undertake the job of prime minister, or words to that effect. The Detonator. That worked me up, and made me think of the title.
THE DETONATOR. (This came with a Shout and scared Miss K.[ingston]!) That has not the liability to criticism which was true of the Spark, and it is really a much more accurate title.
Well, to get back to the main line of my letter—We are in a position when the whole world may blow up like a Chinese cracker. The stablest institutions are the most likely to go first. That is why I am anxious that you should not leave yourself walking the tight-rope. You ought to be prepared to spring into the saddle if a horse is lead up to you at any hour of the day or night.
What I want to see is the weight of authority, and that not only of personal authority, but the authority of the Truth itself.
Yours ever
Aleister
P.S. I'm sorry: I wanted to improve on the letter a whole lot; but this blurring makes it too difficult. One can't refer back with any ease, audit upsets the concentration. So you will have to get to me on the Astral! A.C.
|