Thelema Lodge
Ordo Templi Orientis
P.O.Box 2303
Berkeley, CA 94702 USA
October 2001 e.v. at Thelema Lodge
Announcements from
Lodge Members and Officers
by Aleister Crowley
(under the pseudonym of James Grahame)
II.
Things went from bad to worse with the twins. No one seemed to want a
typist. Sieglinda was pretty and clever enough for the chorus; but she read
the American Sunday papers, and knew that as a merely modest girl, she had no
chance for an engagement. New York managers, it appeared, insisted on a type
of Virtue so rigorous that it left Lucrece, Penelope, and the mother of the
Gracchi among the also rans. She had seen chorus-girls, too, and even heard
them discuss Virtue; anyhow, for one reason or another, she did not apply for
an engagement.
Siegmund's inspirations, too, failed him even as her purse shrank; he
spoilt paper at an alarming rate. One day when she came in from a vain search
for work she caught him in the very act of dashing another failure to the
floor. "Oh tosh! infernal beastly tosh!" he yelled; "really, Sieglinda, you
must learn to keep your mouth shut!" "What have I done now?" she laughed.
"It's that ghastly tune you've been humming for a month; Broadway Bliss it
comes from, I suppose, by the sound of it; I wrote it down to feast my eyes
upon the ghastly and upon my soul and conscience, I think it's too bad even
for Broadway." "I'm sorry, boy; I didn't know I was annoying you. I don't
usually hum, do I?" "Never heard you before; it's that eternal search for
work. O my God! I wish I could have learnt to push a car. The music I'm
writing now-a-days sounds rather like one, too; a Ford, on a country road,
with a tyre gone. Lord! I think I'll send it round as a Futurist Opera!"
Nearly a month later, Sieglinda declared that she had found a job. It was
not regular work, apparently; she was in and out at all hours, sometimes
extremely tired. It went on for nearly six months before Siegmund noticed
anything wrong. Then he asked her what her work was. She told him that she
had turned her good taste to account, and had been employed to decorate and
furnish a house on East 63rd Street for a very rich man. She deserved more
pay than she was getting; perhaps he might do more for her later on. "Do you
see him often?" "Every day." "Ever make love to you?" "Oh no! He takes no
more notice of me than if I were a piece of wood. And he never spends a penny
except on this fad of having a fine house. I go shopping for him in a seven
thousand dollar car; and I hate to take the subway home. He's musical, by the
way; I've done him the finest music room in America; perhaps I'll be able to
interest him in your work, one day." "I don't work. I can't work. A chunk
of cheese has more ideas than I've had for the best part of a year!" "Oh
well, inspiration will come. If we could only get out of this horrible
struggle to live from day to day! If that house were only mine instead of
his! It ought to be. I made it. I took a common mass of brick and stone,
and turned it into Paradise. And all I've got out of it - six months and more
living like a slave - has been about four hundred dollars! And the house will
be ready in three weeks or so - and then what shall I do?"
Ten days later she came to him in tears. "Siegmund," she cried, "the man
wants me to live in his house." "Don't you do it, girl!" said her brother;
"don't forget the oak, and the three greyhounds, and the bend or!"
It was another month before the house was finished. On the day, she came
home at noon, jubilant, "What do you think," she said, "I've got a whole
hundred dollars extra as a bonus, and the promise of another job; and we're
going to have a Day in Fairyland. Come along; we're going to lunch downtown, and then I'll take you to see the house, and then we'll come home and dress
for dinner for the first time in a year, and I've got seats to Die Walküre
tonight, and then we'll go on to supper at a cabaret! There!"
Two hours later they had finished a lunch at the Knickerbocker which was a
landmark in the life of the head waiter. Sieglinda was not going to spoil a
Day in Fairyland for ten dollars one way of the other.
So, with very threadbare cloaks tight over poor worn clothing, these waifs
of fortune faced the ice and snow of Manhattan's coldest February, and made
their way to East 63rd Street, the good wine tingling in them till they
laughed merrily at the bitter wind of winter, as it cut into their young
faces.
The house on 63rd Street stood well away from either avenue. It was taller
than its immediate neighbors, and the woodwork was of the same dull red as the
granite of which it was built. Sieglinda produced a key, and they entered.
The hall was remarkable for the waved stripes of tawny yellow and black,
the tiger-heads that lined the walls, and the tiger skins that covered the
floor.
Sieglinda led the way into the room on the life, which extended the whole
depth of the house. One could hardly give a name to such a room. Walls and
ceiling were covered with a Japanese paper of old gold; the floor was of
mahogany, and the only furniture in the room was dull red lacquer, cabinets
and trays and little tables. In the centre of the floor was a great rug of
blue without a pattern, raised from the floor by mattresses to the height of
about a foot. At the far end of the room stood a great golden figure of
Buddha, between two monstrous vases of porcelain of the same deep thrilling
blue as the rug. Siegmund gasped his glory. "I thought this would inspire
you," said Sieglinda. They went into the opposite room. Here all was in
perfect contrast. The whole room was panelled in ebony; in the centre stood
an oblong table of the same wood, with ancient tall-backed chairs evidently of
the same craftsmen's handiwork. Against the walls stood oaken chests, black
with age; and of each of them a single silver statue. At the upper end of the
room hung a crucifix of ivory, with three tall silver candlesticks on each
side of it. The candles were of yellow wax. Facing this was a single
picture, a group of dancers by Monticelli.
Sieglinda led the way upstairs. Here was a modern sitting-room, evidently
designed for a woman. The main motive was steel-blue, harmonized with ruddy
amber. Everything in this room was soft; it was, as it were, an archetype of
cushions! The pictures were all landscapes by Morrice. The room opposite was
as typically a man's. Great leather arm chairs and settees stood on every
side. A huge cigar cabinet of cedar was opposite the open fireplace, with a
long narrow table between them which divided the room into two halves. One
half contained a billiard table, and its walls were covered with sporting
prints; the other had a card table and a chess table, but no other furniture
except chairs. On the walls were nudes by the best masters, Manet and John,
and O'Conor, and Van Gogh, and Gauguin, culminating in a daring freak by
Cadell, and a solemn and passionless eccentricity by Barne.
The third floor was guarded by a single door. It was all one room, a
bedroom lined in rose marble, with a vast antique basin of the same material,
in which a fountain, a reduced copy of the "Universe" of the Avenue de
l'Observatoire, played. Around the room stood many a masterpiece of marble
and of bronze, the Drunken Satyr and the Dancing Faun, Diana of the Ephesians
and the terminal Hermes of the Aristophanes of sculpture, Marsyas and Olympas,
the goat-piece of the unknown master of Herculaneum, the Femmes Damnées of
Pradier, the Bouches d'Enfer of Rodin and his Epervier et Colombe. All these
were grouped about the great bed, which rose from the floor like a snowy
plateau lit with Alpenblühn. There were no pillars, nothing but a table-land
of ease, swelling like a maid's bosom from the marble. One could hardly say
where floor left off and bed began, save that around the rising curves of rosy
purity stood eight Cupids wreathed in flowers.
Light, in this room came pale and timid, like a girl's first love, through
trellises of ground glass. But the room was not dark, for there was no color
in it deeper than the bronzes; and they like islands in the rose-white
loveliness that girt them like a sea. The ceiling was a single sheet of
polished silver.
From this room brother and sister mounted to the highest floor. Here was
the music room, a chapel of carved walnut, lofty and Gothic, endowed with a
great organ; its choir ready to become vocal at the waving of the wand of a
magician, for every king of musical instrument was in its place.
Siegmund for the first time exhibited manly firmness. "I am going straight
out of this house," he cried angrily, "and my permanent address will be the
Hudson River!"
Originally published by Thelema Lodge twenty years ago in The Magickal Link, this little essay appeared as a four part serial. We offer it here in two installments, with the first and second sections this month and the remaining sections three and four to follow together in our next issue.
by Caliph Hymenaeus Alpha X°
part one
One day, some years ago, the lady I was living with at the time, who
happened to be a member of the Book of the Month club, said laughingly, "As a
prize, I could get you a copy of the Bible. But of course you do not read the
Bible, do you?"
Item: Genesis 2. "From Eden a river flowed to water the park, which on
leaving the park (Da'ath - the Visudha chakra) branched into four streams.
The name of the first is Pison." 
= 446. Check your Sepher Sephiroth -
just like Aleister Crowley laid it out for you. (Note: at this point we go
into technical equations. 66 = 
, a "Ship." You are now reading the
ship's code book.) But to get to the Visudha chakra, you have to bring the
energy down through the Brahma chakra (or Sahasara chakra, depending - ), but
in the Qabala we call it Kether. (
= 620 - the Crown.) This energy is
called "Mezla" (
= the influence from most high = 78.)
Once this energy hits Da'ath (
= 474) - you must understand, of course,
that the psychic body does not exist until created - it splits into four
rivers. The first of which is Pison. Like I said. It goes from your throat
chakra to your right shoulder. Geburah. Check column LVI in your 777. This
happens to be fire, sight, Mars, and the South. To resume from Genesis 2. ".
. . Pison, the one which flows all round the land of Havilah (translation:
Mars) where there is gold - fine gold in that land! with pearls and beryls;
the name of the second is Ghihon (
= 77)." It is West. It goes to your
left shoulder and is called Chesed. Jupiter.
To be continued. If there is a continuity.
Okay. Back to Genesis 2. Your education is about to begin.
This is the story of the four rivers of Paradise. Sometimes known as the
Map of Atlantis.
We have gone through Pison and Ghihon. Technically Mezla is not one of the
rivers, but the Source, like the Ganges.
The third river is Hiddekel (
= 139). This goes from the Visudha
chakra to the Anahata chakra (translation: to Tiphereth - your heart, Sun,
life, compassion, beauty; also known as the Spider, Pelican, and/or 5
= 6
,
depending). It is East.
The fourth river is Pharath. The Euphrates. It is the North (and we will
remember the relation of Nuit to the North, as of Hadit to the South). It is
= 680. It is the path from the Visudha chakra to Yesod. The Foundation.
The World card in the Tarot. You. The person who took this incarnation. The
Cosmic Dancer. And we will remember Revelation 16, verse 12, "The sixth
poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its waters were dried up
to prepare the way for the kings from the East."
And who are the kings from the East? Well, we happen to be the Order of
the Temple of the Orient. And it is written (AL III:45), speaking of the
Scarlet Woman, "Then will I lift her to pinnacles of power: then will I breed
from her a child mightier than all the kings of the earth. I will fill her
with joy: with my force shall she see & strike at the worship of Nu; she shall
achieve Hadit."
There is a very great mystery here. Well, the way this article got started
was that one day this gal I was living with said, "I don't understand that."
Meaning the sentence, ". . . she shall achieve Hadit." I just looked at her
strangely. My god, this woman had been into Thelema for thirty years. But it
is like Aleister Crowley wrote to Karl Germer once, "It is incredible, but
after all these years you do not know how Magick works." It does take a
certain knack.
For example, at the O.T.O. Tarot reading booth at the Ren(naissance) Faire
recently there was a certain couple. He had invented his own Tarot deck and I
saw no objection. After all, how many times during that fantastic year of
1969-1970 did I say to anyone who would listen, and there were damn few -
sorry, just ran out of space.
The article by Thomas De Quincey (1785-1859) from which this section has been extracted was based upon a dissertation in Latin by a German university professor, J. G. Buhle (1763-1821), who originally presented it to the Philosophical Society of Göttingen in 1803. The English version appeared in four parts in the London Magazine during 1824, where it was identified as De Quincey's translation from Buhle, and it has seldom been reprinted since, becoming quite a scarce text. Although De Quincey spoke in 1847 of revising and reissuing it, he never accomplished this, and because of its status as a translation the "Inquiry" was excluded from David Masson's 1897 collected edition of De Quincey's Works. (Our text comes from an 1886 edition of De Quincey's Confessions which appends this and a number of other obscure magazine articles.)
De Quincey informs his reader that, because he could not find in English "any work which had treated this question with much learning," he saw fit to present a version of Buhle's research in translation which "abstracted, rearranged, and in some respects . . . improved" the original. The scholar whom De Quincey identifies only as "Mr. Nicolai," author of a book "on the charges against the Templars," presumably published in the late eighteenth century. Buhle chose to structure his arguments as a sort of debate with Nicolai, and De Quincey maintains this style of presentation in parts of his version of the piece. In his 1847 essay upon "Secret Societies" De Quincey jovially introduces a debunking discussion of the masons by claiming that "the whole bubble of Freemasonry was shattered in a paper which I myself threw into a London journal about the year 1823 or 1824." His reference is to the "Inquiry," and he goes on to comment upon the "authorship" of the translated article. "It was a paper in this sense mine, that from me it had received form and arrangement; but the materials belonged to a learned German -- viz. Buhle; the same that edited the Bipont Aristotle, and wrote a History of
Philosophy. No German has any conception of style. I therefore did him the favour to wash his dirty face, and make him presentable amongst Christians; but the substance was drawn entirely from this German book. It was there established that the whole hoax of masonry had been invented in the year 1629 by one Andreä; and the reason that my exposure could have dropped out of remembrance is, probably, that it never reached the public ear; partly because the journal had a limited circulation; but much more because the title of the paper was not so constructed as to indicate its object, or to throw out any promises of gratification to malice. But it was malicious: though I was foolish enough to dissemble in its title that part of its pretensions. A title which seemed to promise only a discussion of masonic doctrines must have repelled everybody; whereas it ought to have announced (what in fact was accomplished) the utter demolition of the whole masonic edifice."
As this final section opens, De Quincey's orchestration of Buhle's argument is refuting Nicolai's theory that freemasonry arose from the submerged traditions of the Templars. The rude carping tone of De Quincey's language was a common feature of nineteenth century journalism, and although it appears somewhat childish to us, it has the advantage of alienating the reader sufficiently for the (many and considerable) points of prejudice and ignorance which find their way into the argument to be especially noticed.
an extract from the
"Historico-Critical Inquiry into
the Origins of the Rosicrucians
and the Freemasons"
(part three of the fifth section of the Conclusion to the essay)
by Thomas De Qunicey
But, says Mr. Nicolai, the Templars had a secret, and the Freemasons have a
secret; and the secrets agree in this, that no uninitiated person has
succeeded in discovering either. Does not this imply some connection
originally between the two orders; more especially if it can be shown that the
two secrets are identical? Sorry I came, my venerable friend, to answer - No.
Sorry I am, in your old days, to be under the necessity of knocking on the
head a darling hypothesis of yours, which has cost you, I doubt not, much
labour of study and research - much thought - and, I fear also, many many
pounds of candles. But it is my duty to do so; and indeed, considering Mr.
Nicolai's old age and his great merits in regard to German literature, it
would be my duty to show him no mercy, but to lash him with the utmost
severity for his rotten hypothesis - if my time would allow it. But to come
to business. The Templars, says old Nicolai, had a secret. They had so; but
what was it? According to Nicolai it consisted in the denial of the Trinity,
and in a scheme of natural religion opposed to the dominant Popish
Catholicism. Hence it was that the Templars sought to make themselves
independent of the other Catholic clergy; the novices were required to abjure
the divinity of Christ, and even to spit upon a crucifix, and trample it under
foot. Their Anti-Trinitarianism Mr. Nicolai ascribes to their connection with
the Saracens, who always made the doctrine of the Trinity a matter of reproach
to the Franks. He supposes that, during periods of truce in captivity, many Templars had, by communication with learned Mohammedans, become enlightened to
the errors and the tyranny of Popery; but at the same time strengthening their
convictions of the falsehood of Mahometanism, they had retained nothing of
their religious doctrines but Monotheism. These heterodoxies, however, under
the existing power of the hierarchy and the universal superstition then
prevalent, they had the strongest reasons for communicating to none but those
who were admitted into the highest degree of their order - and to them only
symbolically. From these data, which may be received as tolerably probable
and conformable to the depositions of the witnesses on the trial of the
Templars, old Mr. Nicolai flatters himself that he can unriddle the mystery of
mysteries - viz., Baphomet (Baffomet, Baphemet, or Baffometus); which was the
main symbol of the Knights Templars in the highest degrees. This Baphomet was
a figure representing a human bust, but sometimes of monstrous and caricature
appearance, which symbolised the highest object of the Templars; and therefore
upon the meaning of Baphomet hinges the explanation of the great Templar
mystery.
First, then, Mr. Nicolai tells us what Baphomet was not. It was not
Mohammed. According to the genius of the Arabic language out of Mohammed
might be made Mahomet or Bahomet, but not Baphomet. In some Latin historians
about the period of the Crusades, Bahomet is certainly used for Mahomet, and
in one writer perhaps Baphomet (viz., in the Epistola Anselmi de Ribodimonte ad Manassem Archiepiscopum Remensem, of the year 1099, in Dachery's
Spicilegium, tom. 11, p. 431, - "Sequenti die aurorâ apparente altis vocibus
Baphomet invocaverunt; et nos Deum nostrum in cordibus nostris deprecantes
impetum fecimus in eos, et de muris civitatis omnes expulimus.") Nicolai,
supposing that the cry of the Saracens was in this case addressed to their own
prophet, concludes that Baphomet is an error of the press for Bahomet, and
that this is put for Mahomet. But it is possible that Baphomet may be the
true reading; for it may not have been used in devotion for Mahomet, but
scoffingly as the known watchword of the Templars. But it contradicts the
whole history of the Templars - to suppose that they had introduced into their
order the worship of an image of Mahomet. In fact, from all the records of
their trial and persecution, it results that no such charge was brought
against them by their enemies. And, moreover, Mahometanism itself rejects all
worship of images.
Secondly, not being Mahomet, what was it? It was, says Mr. Nicolai, 
, i.e., as he interprets it, the word Baphomet meant the baptism of
wisdom; and the image so called represented God the universal Father - i.e.,
expressed the unity of the Divine Being. By using this sign therefore, under
this name, which partook much of a Gnostic and Cabbalistic spirit, the
Templars indicated their dedication to the truths of natural religion.
Now, in answer to this learned conceit of Mr. Nicolai's, I would wish to
ask him -
First, in an age so barbarous as that of the twelfth and thirteenth
centuries, when not to be able to read or write was no disgrace, how came a
body of rude warriors like the Templars to descend into the depths of
Gnosticism?
Secondly, if by the image called Baphomet they meant to represent the unity
of God, how came they to designate it by a name which expresses no attribute
of the deity, but simply a mystical ceremony amongst themselves (viz, the
baptism of wisdom)?
Thirdly, I will put a home question to Mr. Nicolai; and let him parry it if
he can: How many heads had Baphomet? His own conscience will reply - Two.
Indeed, a whole length of Baphomet is recorded which had also four feet; but,
supposing these to be disputed, Mr. Nicolai can never dispute away the two
heads. Now, what sort of a symbol would a two-headed image have been for the
expression of unity of being? Answer me that, Mr. Nicolai. Surely the rudest
skulls of the twelfth century could have expressed their meaning better.
Having thus upset my learned brother's hypothesis, I now come forward with
my own. Through the illumination which some of the Templars gained in the East as to the relations in which they stood to the Pope and Romish church,
but still more perhaps from the suggestions of their own great power and
wealth opposed to so rapacious and potent a supremacy, there gradually arose a
separate Templar interest no less hostile to the Pope and clergy of Rome than
to Mahomet. To this separate interest they adapted an appropriate scheme of
theology; but neither the one nor the other could be communicated with safety
except to their own superior members: and thus it became a mystery of the
order. Now this mystery was symbolically expressed by a two-headed figure of
Baphomet: i.e., of the Pope and Mahomet together. So long as the Templars
continued orthodox, the watchword of their undivided hostility was Mahomet:
but as soon as the Pope became an object of jealousy and hatred to them, they
devised a new watchword which should covertly express their double-headed
enmity by intertwisting the name of the Pope with that of Mahomet.1 This they
effected by cutting off the two first letters of Mahomet, and substituting Bap
or Pap - the first syllable of Papa. Thus arose the compound word Baphomet;
and hence it was that the image of Baphomet was figured with two heads, and
was otherwise monstrous in appearance. When a Templar was initiated into the
highest degree of the order, he was shown this image of Baphomet, and received
a girdle with certain ceremonies which referred to that figure. At sight of
this figure in the general chapters of the order, the knights expressed their
independence of the church and the church creed, by testifying their
abhorrence of the crucifix, and by worshipping the sole God of heaven and
earth. Hence they called a newly-initiated member a "friend of God, who could
now speak with God if he chose" - i.e., without the intermediation of the Pope
and the church. Upon this explanation of Baphomet, it becomes sufficiently
plain why the secret was looked upon as so inviolable that even upon the rack
it could not be extorted from them. By such a confession the order would have
exposed itself to a still more cruel persecution, and a more inevitable
destruction. On the other hand, upon Mr. Nicolai's explanation, it is
difficult to conceive why, under such extremities, the accused should not have
confessed the truth. In all probability the court of Rome had good
information of the secret tendency of the Templar doctrines; and hence, no
doubt, it was Pope Clement V proceeded so furiously against them.
Now then I come to my conclusion, which is this: If the Knights Templars
had no other secret than one relating to a political interest which placed
them in opposition to the Pope and the claims of the Roman Catholic clergy on
the one hand, and to Mahomet on the other - then it is impossible that there
can have been any affinity or resemblance whatsoever between them and the
Freemasons; for the Freemasons have never in any age troubled themselves about
either Mahomet or the Pope. Popery2 and Mahometanism are alike indifferent to
the Freemasons, and always have been. And in general the object of the
Freemasons is not political. Finally, it is in the highest degree probable
that the secret of the Knights Templars perished with their order: for it is
making too heavy a demand on our credulity - to suppose that a secret society
never once coming within the light of history can have propagated itself
through a period of four centuries - i.e., from the thirteenth to the
seventeenth century, in which century it had been shown that Freemasonry first
arose.
Libers, Gall in Gaul, and loss:
Continuing our publication of Grady McMurtry's correspondence with Aleister Crowley, here are letters from Grady in the first quarter of '45 e.v. These run from a brief comment on receiving OTO degree instructional Libri, through forcing an interview, to annotation of the death of a Soror -- with note of an enclosed poem on the end. Along the way, Jack Parsons and W.T.Smith are discussed. Kenneth Grant and Frieda Harris have mention.
We begin with Grady back in France.
| 1814th Ord S&M Co (Avn) APO 149. U.S. Army 17 January 1945 FRANCE | ||
| Dear A. C.,
The Liber De Natura Deorum came in today in good condition. Am anxiously awaiting De Arte Magica. By the heading you will note that I am in France now. One of the reasons why I haven't written sooner. Practically impossible to get any work done so far - moving around can disrupt one's activities for days on end. Then again the locale, area or living facilities into which one moves may not be so comfortable or inductive to writing as one has become accustomed to. And of course one's primary mission of winning the war always has priority number one on time available. I don't suppose you have moved as yet. Or have you? Saw Frieda before leaving London. She said she was coming out to see you that week so perhaps she mentioned the visit. Last time I was able to visit my friends in Brussels I obtained the name of a prominent music director in Paris to whom, should I be lucky enough to visit the French capital in the near future, I shall certainly present La Gauloise - if I can find him. No hope of having Liber Aleph typed off in the near future I don't suppose. In the meantime am hanging on to Karl's copy - for which he won't love me. Speaking of whom - on my return I found a Christmas package from Sascha Andre, and Karl too I presume though his name wasn't mentioned in the return address. It contained candy, cake and razor blades - items always welcome over here. Have you heard from Kenneth Grant recently? Haven't had time to write to either him or Louie the 1st although I hope to soon. Which reminds me that I haven't written to Jack either which I promised you I would do immediately. Having nothing more to discuss at the moment think I will knock off and write to Jack now.
Yours, {Note in handwriting illegible} | ||
| 1814th Ord S&M Co (Avn) APO 149. % PM, NY, NY 3 Feb. 1945 FRANCE | ||
| Dear A.C., Sending along 1000 Francs this month (equivalent to $20 or 5 pounds) to your new address. I was very painstaking in pointing out that it was Mr and not Mrs or Miss. Trust you will have no trouble this time. Thanks for the receipt - I must get busy totalling up my credit slips. With two jobs on my hands at the same time I've hardly had time to turn around except on business. Letter from Jack dated the 14th of Dec. He gave me an idea of their program and I must say it sounds constructive enough. He didn't mention Smith but seemed to think that Regina could be induced to come back and help out with the work. She would be a great asset to him in many ways - taking care of classes, coaching new members or old in the proper way to perform the Mass, etc. Seems he has sold out the one business and gone into another - I suspect that one reason was to put him back on his feet financially. But then he will probably need considerable capital to get his new interprises {sic} going - he seems to be supporting the entire lodge out there out of his own pocket. I have news of La Gauloise but I can not guarantee its importance. By cunning and bad manners I practically forced my way into the presence of Charles Münch, Chef d'Orchestre of a Symphony in Paris, and presented the manuscript. or score, or whatever it is. Anyway - seems Mr. Münch has his telephone listed privately to keep away the thundering herd - so I couldn't call him up, and when by shear luck I secured his address and tracked him to his lair no one would answer the front doorbell of any of four apartments - all at the same address. So I wondered my way up the back stairs - it said "Service" and I'm a serviceman - and by pounding hither and pounding yon I finally located the apartment. Then all I had to do was get by an assortment of menials intent upon keeping common trash away from His Majesty. After a lot of obstinate "No compree's" was finally ushered into The Presence and found a quite amiable chap - as quite often happens in such cases. One glance at the score and he was profuse with his tres bons but was puzzled as to what I wanted him to do with it. After explaining same he promised to quote recommend unquote the song to certain people interested in popular music and having access to the airways. He gave me a shot of excellent cognac before I left and took my address there the matter stands. So far I've heard nothing spectacular.
| ||
| 1814th Ord S&M Co (Avn) APO 149. U.S. Army 12 Feb. 1945 FRANCE | ||
|
Dear Aleister,
Two of your letters came in today, one dated 31 Jan & the other 7 Feb. so that I received news of your predicament on being struck at the same time with the news of its solution. Glad you like your new surroundings - just how would reach them from London should I be so lucky as to return to the UK on a visit? I sent a 1000 francs this month, which you should have received by this time, and hope to double it in the 1st of next. Received a letter from Kenneth Grant the other day which I have answered. Do hope you can succeed in getting him out there to help you - he would be of invaluable service. In Jack's last letter he referred hopefully to the "50 Letters", as he called them, and wondered if there was any chance of his receiving some in the near future. I suppose he mentioned this to you as I note that you have also received the information that he has purchased the place at 1003. The candy hasn't arrived as yet but will be expecting it - the mail service has been very poor ever since the Christmas rush. I say, old bean, I have what I consider a most delightful book of fantasy which you might enjoy flipping through. It is a collection of caricatures by William Steig called "The Lonely Ones". I find it extremely amusing to connect the satire with friends or acquaintances - for instance the one entitled "Very few understand my works" reminds me of Jack, "Whoever wants the answer must come to me" reminds me of you as I once thought of you, "I am at one with the universe" reminds me to take a second look at myself, and "Meditation will reveal all secrets" reminds me of Germer, for some reason. Then we have all known people like those captioned "People are no damn good!", "Mother loved me but she died", and the out-of-this-world expression that says "I can't express it". I think that you will find it amusing so will bundle it with a companion book - potboiler by the same pen, unfortunately - and try to get it off tomorrow.
Yours ever, | ||
| 1814th Ord S&M Co (Avn) APO 149. U.S. Army 6 March 1945 FRANCE | ||
| Dear Aleister, Found your of 21 Feb. waiting for me when I came in last night - and must admit that I am a very puzzled little boy. Who is the failure - groping on all four for crumbs - Smith or Jack? With your reference to 132 it must be Smith - and if so them I am even more puzzled because I have never expressed the opinion that his experiment would be a failure. In fact I was rather depending on him to carry it off. I think that the mix-up must be that you are confusing my statement that "I do not think that Jack will succeed with his present plan" with Smith. Apparently there is some news from California that I have not received as yet. I note then perhaps it would be best if you explained it slowly and carefully. This brings to mind that it is quite possible that I was guilty of ambiguity in my remark concerning Jacks' success. I was thinking in terms of a mass formation along Thelemic lines, and it is quite possible that Jack is more interested in building a small, but very solid, group. Which is, with the facilities he has at hand, a very practical viewpoint. A slight conflict of theory, as applied to future possibilities, and practice, as applied to present circumstance. Will attempt to procure the stamps next time I visit Luxembourg. Were the ones I sent of any use? Hardly likely. If the recipients are earnest stamp collectors they probably already have them. Yours of 28 Feb. came in today. Trust you are well again by now. That is always a nasty business. Will have to drop in on Münch the next time I am around that way and see if he has been able to do anything with the song. I have a cheap pen in my junk some place that I have been keeping in anticipation of that inevitable day when I will lose my Parker 51 - shall I sent it along? Got ten pound off to you this month as of the 1st. How long does it take them to come through? Some time, I should think. Sorry to hear of Regina's death, I had no idea that her condition was so critical. Sending along my latest dabble.
{note of enclosed poem}To my Fallen Comrades | ||
| 10/1/01 | The Rite of Luna at Metaversal Lightcraft in Berkeley 8:PM | (510) 639-0783 | ||||
| 10/2/01 | Lesser feast of Jack Parsons (feast and reading) 8PM library | (510) 652-3171 | Thelema Ldg. | |||
| 10/7/01 | Gnostic Mass 8:00PM Horus Temple | (510) 652-3171 | Thelema Ldg. | |||
| 10/12/01 | Lesser feast of Aleister Crowley | (510) 652-3171 | Thelema Ldg. | |||
| (feast and reading) 8PM at Cheth House | ||||||
| 10/14/01 | Gnostic Mass 8:00PM Horus Temple | (510) 652-3171 | Thelema Ldg. | |||
| 10/16/01 | New Moon in Libra 12/23 PM | |||||
| 10/18/01 | Lesser feast of Grady McMurtry | (510) 527-2855 | Sirius Camp | |||
| (feast and reading) 8PM at Sirius Camp | ||||||
| 10/20/01 | OTO Initiations, call to attend | (510) 652-3171 | Thelema Ldg. | |||
| 10/21/01 | Gnostic Mass 8:00PM Horus Temple | (510) 652-3171 | Thelema Ldg. | |||
| 10/22/01 | Section II reading group with | (510) 652-3171 | Thelema Ldg. | |||
| Caitlin: Matthew Lewis's "The Monk" | ||||||
| 8PM in the library | ||||||
| 10/23/01 | Sol enters Scorpio 1:26 AM | |||||
| 10/24/01 | Magical Forum with Paul. Book of | (510) 652-3171 | Thelema Ldg. | |||
| Thoth study group. 8PM Library | ||||||
| 10/28/01 | Gnostic Mass 8:00PM Horus Temple | (510) 652-3171 | Thelema Ldg. | |||
| 10/31/01 | Blue Moon full in Taurus 9:41 PM |
The viewpoints and opinions expressed herein are the responsibility of the
contributing authors and do not necessarily reflect the position of OTO or its
officers.
Thelema Lodge
Ordo Templi Orientis
P.O. Box 2303
Berkeley, CA 94702 USA
Phone: (510) 652-3171 (for events info and contact to Lodge)
Internet: heidrick@well.com (Submissions and internet circulation only)