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Correspondence from Gerald Yorke to John P. Kowal
21 June 1950
Dear Dr. Kowal,
My relations with the late Frater Achad [Charles Stansfeld Jones] were in connection with the A∴A∴ and not the U.[niversal] B.[rotherhood], about which I know nothing, save that Frater Achad was a member. In 1948 Achad had what he termed a "revelation" with regard to the "Aeon of Truth and Justice", and "The Testimony of Stone of Precious Water" etc., which is work based on the Liber AL of Aleister Crowley. He made me and Albert Handel 'witnesses' of this 'working', sending me over a hundred letters in duplicate to Handel and me. They contained much Qabalistic work which tied in with his Liber 31 and Liber Qoph Nia vel Nomen Dei, which in turn tie up with Liber AL. He asked me not to show these letters, Liber 31, and Liber Qoph Nia, to anyone during his life time without his prior consent. I was therefore trying to find out whether he left any further wished in the matter wither to Handel—the other witness—or to you, his disciple in U.B. You and Handel having replied in the negative, I feel at liberty to use my discretion in showing this material to others.
If you and/or the U.B. buy Achad's library from his wife, I urge you to include the MS material in your purchase. For instance, one very valuable document in assessing the late Frater Achad's work is the diary which was published in The Equinox Vol. III No. 1 as Liber CLXV, A Master of the Temple. The second half of this diary survives amongst Achad's papers. Of this I would like to have a copy to complete my collection of his work.
Then he had several typescript copies of Aleister Crowley's diaries and some of his MS notebooks. Do get these, then if you can let me have copies I can in turn supply you with copies of similar material in my possession to our mutual benefit. In some ways the papers of those who thought that they were the messengers of a 'New Aeon' are as interesting as those of the genuine messengers—the interest lying in the difference between them. Hence my interest in the unpublished material both of Frater Achad and 'The Master Therion'. I do not of course expect to be shown any material dealing with Achad's relations with the U.B., as I am not a member of their Order. I am however interested in copies of A.C.'s letters to Achad, of which he himself sent me a number but not all.
If you want to see Achad's letters about his 'Manifestation'—MANIO etc. 'revelation', I suggest that you ask Handel for them. Handel's address is 505 Communipaw Avenue, Jersey City, N.J. 5, and I gather that you know each other. I have written him that you may get in touch with him about this.
Now that Achad is dead I am sending copies of his Liber 31 and Qoph Nia to Karl Germer to help him complete his collection of A∴A∴ material. If you are interested in this side of Frater Achad's work, I suggest that you ask Germer to let you see them. Not myself belonging to any of these Orders, I hesitate to let others see material in my possession, which is really part of the archives of that Order, but prefer to refer them to the head of the Order in question.
I have formed a wide collection of papers in connection with the G.D. [Golden Dawn], the later Aleister Crowley's A∴A∴, and the O.T.O., with a view to preserving them as an historical record. Achad approved and helped me by sending me copies of much of his material. A little before his death he called a halt, saying that perhaps it was fairer for him to leave the rest of what I was interested in to his wife, for her to sell on his death. She will not however sell to me, as she disliked—and with reason—her husband's association with A.C., and she mistrusts my interest in the latter.
I hope I have made myself clear. If the U.B. is working on a New Aeon—as I gather from your letter—can you put me in touch with a representative in London, so that I can learn more about it.
Since I gather that the U.B. as an Order are buying these papers, please show this letter to the Superior in that Order, who is concerned in this matter, if you yourself are not that Superior.
Many thanks for replying to my former latter.
Yours very sincerely,
G. J. Yorke.
P.S. One further but important point. Frater Achad was a Grand Master of the O.T.O., though I believe that he stopped working the system about 1924. He—I believe—had no successor in the Order to whom the rituals and secret documents would normally have been sent on his death. These papers should not be allowed to fall into uninstructed hands. If you get these rituals and lections with his other papers, please let me know, so that they can be sent to the present Grand Master for U.S.A., Belgium or Denmark. I know the first personally, and the address of the other two. I have the whole lot myself—of course—although I am not a member of the Order.
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