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Correspondence from Kenneth Grant to Karl Germer
[EXTRACT]
[27 May 1955]
ISIS: I do not know the distance of the Planet Isis from the Sun, and in fact this is not at all important; one does not gauge a man's spirituality, or any other quality he may possess, by his size and shape. What is important—and I insist that this has important only insofar as its symbolism is concerned—is the fact that the Planet Isis is not of this Solar System; is beyond it, in fact, as the spirit of man is 'beyond' his body. I repeat, this is only of importance symbolically and here, I think, you have taken the Manifesto [Manifesto of the New Isis Lodge] in a spirit in which it is not intended that it should be taken, i.e. in its literal and outer significance, which has about as much relation to its meaning as the wart upon a man's nose has to his mental capabilities. Please do not feel that this is an evasion of the issue because the issue is vitally important, nut it is a symbolic or spiritual issue and does not concern itself with the spiritual features or peculiarities of certain celestial entities—solar, planetary, stellar, remote or near. The Manifesto is couched in a symbolic language and the key to that language will not be found in astronomy, astrology, or any such science, for it hints at a region indescribable in the language of reason and measurement or in the technical and arbitrary terms of any science. For what knowledge would be conveyed by giving the diameter of the planet Isis, or its distance from the Sun? I venture to suggest: none whatever.
. . . I do not, of course, agree with all that I have read of Gregor A. Gregorius [Eugen Grosche], but then neither do I agree with everything that A.C. himself said, and I am prepared to wager that you don't either. But as near as one Brother may recognize and estimate and appreciate the work and endeavours of his fellow on the Path, I think there is very little, comparatively speaking, that I can quarrel with where Gregorius is concerned. It is the same with yourself: As you know, we differ on several points but our general aims and principles may fairly be said to be harmonious and similar. I feel that it is only by allowing the peculiar genius of each individual full freedom to interpret the Teachings in its own unique way that we shall culture a living and vital movement and not a dried-out structure cemented together by lifeless injunctions and laws repeated parrot-fashion and ad nauseum, just because 'The Master' once said them. 'Do what thou wilt' gives the lie to such a procedure and I feel sure that you will agree with me on this point.
With regard to what you write about the over-importance which I accord to O.T.O., I would ask you to remember that I am perfectly well aware of the universality of the central Gnostic Secret as also of its timeliness, but for the purposes of our Manifesto it would not be politic to say that we are one of a thousand other Orders teaching what anybody may easily discover for sixpence in the second-hand occult book department at Foyles, because however true this may be in one sense, as regards the method of imparting such knowledge it is in nowise true, and I think again that you will agree with me when I say that it matters a very great deal how and by what stages such profound and vital knowledge is placed in the possession of the deserving, and sometimes very sensitive, seeking Candidate.
With regard to what I have called—perhaps mistakenly—my illumination concerning Liber AL, I wish to say nothing as yet beyond the one fact that in the words which precede the formula of the Aeon, in verse 57 of Chapter I (i.e. "Invoke me under my stars."), I have discovered a certain key to the use of that formula which, to my knowledge, has not been previously remarked and which opens up such a world of conjecture and far-flung possibility that I hesitate to say how much of it, even, I have myself been able truly to assess or understand. I may supply a clue when I say that these 'stars' are the heavenly flowers of Nuit, the 'kalas' or petals of which contain essences or elixirs of a divine and miraculous potency; but only by a correct comprehension of the role of New Isis in the scheme of the New Aeon of Horus may these 'stars' be truly evaluated or their essences practically utilized.
With regard to the equation of Isis with Nuit, this is not my own, for A.C. himself says on page 74 of The Equinox of the Gods when describing the arched figure of Nuit in the Stélé 718: "Above him (Horus) are the Winged Globe and the bent figure of the heavenly Isis, her hands and feet touching earth." And there is an unsuspected formula contained in this arched posture of Isis or Nuit of which not all, I think, was known to A.C. during his life time. This formula in its full extent has a vital bearing upon the secret of the Sovereign Sanctuary and the scope of its practical effects in ordinary Magick; its spiritual import is even vaster.
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