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Correspondence from Charles Stansfeld Jones to Gerald Yorke
18 June 1948
Dear Yorke,
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law!
You were really pressing me to send you stuff that in the past I had never read and more recently had not had time to completely read or study. I have had no intention of withholding what after mature consideration, and when time permitted, might contribute to the Life of A.C. being written by Symonds [John Symonds].
Finding after more careful consideration that the diary "Hermit of Oesopus Island contained what purports to be a series of "past lives"—drawn from the present subconscious of A.C.—I have carefully typed these as a contribution to the Life where they undoubtedly belong, and as of interest to any psychoanalyst who may read the book when published. These sections are, as it were, complete in themselves as a series, and will therefore, I feel, be of real use to you.
The remainder of that portion of the record is another matter. It is not suitable for the Life. The magical working it contains needs very careful study and evaluation before it could rightly be further circulated. Things mentioned there need careful comparison with my own records of the period, in order that any true picture might emerge. This it will not be possible to undertake in detail this time.
To give you one important example: Reference in my Liber 31 will show that at that period I "resigned from the O.T.O." My reasons for so doing were contained in a letter to A.C. which he received during that "retirement". This letter I have on file. However, A.C. then made a fatal error. He attributed this action on my part to the influence of my wife who knew nothing of it. Thereupon he proceeded to perform a magical ceremony to bring about the death of my wife—a perfectly innocent party who had done him many favours and services. These attacks, since the first failed, I am certain continued over a period of years. Insofar as they were unjustly as well as wickedly made, they rebounded on A.C.'s life and work. In as far as my wife had faults, she caught some of the influence, and attributed it quite wrongly to another party—never suspecting A.C. This caused untold trouble in my family, About the time A.C. began to attack me directly, my wife, who had suffered from asthma for years, found herself relieved of it. That is about the time A.C. probably began personally to suffer from his original error. You know the final result.
Now, records, however fascinating to you or others, which contain material which may seem to justify such methods in students and followers, are dangerous in the extreme. I will not be responsible for circulation.
Your sin Unity and Love,
Achad.
P.S. In all honesty, Yorke, let's face the facts. A.C. was a genius with God-given gifts of poetry, a wonderful mind for devising ritual, the potentialities of a painter, abundant sexual energy; he inherited from his parents the means of a good education and a fair fortune in cash. He also had from the "Golden Dawn" (which he 'destroyed') his knowledge of the basic "Tree of Life" and fundamental rituals upon which he based his life-work. He advocated certain scientific methods of illuminism—especially the need to keep careful; diaries as the only real objective proof of attainment—should such occur.
But, stripped of glamour, and using that same objective proof, I have the record in his own hand from which the enclosed details of past lives" are transcribed. Now I ask you this: if reincarnation be a true theory and these "memories" of actual past lives, or if these "memories" be but the outcropping of suppresses subconscious conditions acquired during his present life up until 1918—in either case, or any other supposition—does a man with this "background" (once the camouflage is off) appear worthy to be considered as genuine Logos or Buddha, the true Leader of Humanity and representative on earth of The Sun? Or have we a genius duped and let down by dark forces? Does the latter part of his life (since 1926) show any real evidence of "conviction of error" and desire for making good the misdeeds of the past? Is this man, other than as poet, in any way entitled to a "whitewash" and a "boost" as a Magician and World Leader? If not, should one be silent, or gradually show the picture in better proportion as a warning to other possible "dupes" who may continue to do harm through their ignorance?
I do not want to condemn anyone. My first "objective" statement of April 2nd stands, I did succeed symbolically in making A.C. "surpass the star" as "Saint". Ann Arbor has at least given a "boost" to the very idea of the "Phoenix". But Liber Legis does say to A.C.: Lift up thyself! Don't you think it is time he was given a chance to do that without further "help" from us?
Remember once more: What is contained in these records is A.C.'s own statement of the type of man he was—not anything "spiteful" which is being said about him by others. He for some reason left things of this sort in my hands. I hand you this portion. Use your own discretion about publication—I make you responsible, believing you to be fair and just. But, above all, please face the facts, and let me have your well-considered opinion about "general policy". (Including Germer [Karl Germer].)
Your in Unity and Love and real sincerity,
Jones.
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