Kasimira Bass

Born: 10 February 1887 in Lemberg, Austria (modern-day Lviv in western Ukraine).

Died: 1940.

Kasimira Bass was born on 10 February 1887, in Lemberg, Austria (modern-day Lviv in western Ukraine), a historically Polish city that became part of Austria in 1772. With an eight-year-old daughter, Marian, from her previous marriage in Vienna, Kasimira de Helleparth emigrated to the United States aboard the SS Majestic, arriving in New York on 12 December 1922. Three days later she married John F. Bass Jr. in Cleveland, Ohio. The fact that she settled in Glendale, California, in December 1923 while her husband lived in Chicago suggests that the marriage may have been arranged to help her obtain citizenship. While living in Southern California she met Wilfred Talbot Smith who introduced her to the teachings of Crowley. While traveling in Europe she stopped in France to meet Crowley.

Crowley took her to dinner and, to her surprise, proposed. Four times. He wanted to marry her in Paris the next day. She was too stunned to answer. The next day, having met her daughter Marian, he proposed again. This time, she explained she had to return to Poland (her birthplace had reverted from Austrian back to Polish rule from 1918 to 1939), but promised to return.

Kasimira Bass  was Crowley's lover from 1927-1928. She was with Aleister in Paris when Israel Regardie arrived from America.  Crowley and Kasimira met Regardie at the train station in Paris and took him by taxi back to their hotel.  After a nice supper, while the three were sipping coffee and cognac, Crowley simply got up from the table and pounced on Kasimira, knocking her to the floor. Regardie apparently was very shocked, got up and quietly staggered into the next room.  He later wrote that Crowley and Kasimira "fell down on the floor and started fucking like a pair of animals right there in front of me."

On 3 November 1928 Kasimira left Crowley although she returned once more on 9 February 1929 to threaten Crowley's newest Scarlet Woman, Maria de Miramar, as she rode in an autobus.