Luminist Archives: The Caliphate Letters

[Crowley to McMurtry, November 21, 1944:]

Bell Inn

Aston, Clinton, Bucks

Care Frater

Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.

Yours of Nov 6: this reply being mostly official, I use the formal style.

As nearly always in correspondence, there is misunderstanding.

“The Caliphate”: You must realize that no matter how closely we may see eye-to-eye on any objective subject, I have to think on totally different premisses where the Order is concerned. One of the (startling few) commands given to me was this: “Trust not a stranger: fail not of an heir.” This has been the very devil for me. Fr. .'. Saturn .'. is of course the natural Caliph; but there are many details concerning the actual policy or working which hit his blind spots. In any case, he can only be a stopgap, because of his age; I have to look for his successor. It has been Hell; so many have come up with amazing promise, only to go on the rocks. Now it never occurred to me to regard you & Jack as rivals. (Bays, by the way, the wreath of Apollo, not Lays.) The subject was poetry. I think.

But — now here is where you have missed my point altogether — I do not think of you as lying on a grassy hillside with a lot of dear sweet lovely wooly lambs, capering to your flute! On the contrary. Your actual life, or “blooding,” is the sort of initiation which I regard as the first essential for a Caliph. [VERTICAL NOTE IN MARGIN KEYED TO THIS SPOT: “Saturn had lots of it: Iron + and twice wounded: rose from ranks to 1st Lieut = our major.”] For — say 20 years hence the Outer Head of the Order must, among other things, have had the experience of war as it is in actual fact to-day. 1965 e.v. should be a critical period in the development of the Child Horus!

(I don’t quite know what you mean by “Jack’s program” or by mine, which “did not succeed.” I myself am unable to say what mine was, or is, and whether it succeeded or not. I know that I failed badly in my duty; but that may have been part of the Plan! So may anything. The only course is to do what seems right at the time, so far as one can; and “unassuaged of purpose, delivered from the lust of result” ...Yes, I know how too.)

Now about the IX°. The theory is simple, and I think I told you enough at 93 for you to work on. Just in case: You prepare the Medicine by mixing the two ingredients with your mind concentrated and exalted on the purpose of the Opus at the moment of mixing. You absorb this, preferably by the mucus membrane (so as to avoid the gross chemical changes which would ensue if it were swallowed) and, when a third person or thing is involved, you apply a small portion of it, either directly or by means of a talisman or some such device. In material opus it may be well to complete the circuit by making contact with earth, e.g. the grass, or a plant, not a floor or any artificial “ground.” The Art of preparing the Elixir is not easy: (a) you must get a copious eagle, and (b) the eggs ought to be fertilized; (c) the Link must be made secure. Remember that the thing works in every case: so, if you miss your target, stray bullets will be flying around, and may do endless mischief. They may even hit you! Experience is the first and only Teacher. I trust that the above will have confirmed rather than instructed. If any point is in doubt, let me know. I will send you a copy of De Arte Magica under separate cover. (Note that I treat you as a full member of the IXth°: only sorry that the grades could not be given in the form originally prescribed.) This book (30 pp.) gives you a lot of extra hints, & is besides a good springboard for your own research. You may discover all sorts of new things for yourself; the one thing that never alters is the basic formula HWHY.

Love is the law, love under will.

Yours fraternally

[Signed with 11-fold cross Masonic mark and “Baphomet O.H.O.”]

[Crowley to McMurtry, March 22, 1946:]

An Ixx Sun in 0° Aries

Ex Castro Nemoris Inferioris

Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.

This is to authorize Frater Hymenaeus Alpha (Capt. Grady L. McMurtry) to take charge of the whole work of the Order in Caliphornia to reform the organization in pursuance of his report of Jan. 25, ’46 e.v. subject to the approval of Fra.'. Saturnus (Karl J. Germer). This authorization is to be used only in emergency.

Love is the law, love under will.

[Masonic Builder’s Mark]

Baphamet O.H.O.

[Crowley to McMurtry, April 11, 1946:]

An Ixx Sun in 20° Aries

Ex Castro Nemoris Inferioris

(The Ridge, Hastings, England)

Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.

These presents are to appoint — Frater Hymenaeus Alpha — Grady Louis McMurtry, IX° O.T.O. — as Our representative in the United States of America, and his authority is to be considered as Ours, subject to the approval, revision, or veto of our Viceroy Karl Johannes Germer IX° O.T.O. of 260 West 72nd St., New York City, N.Y.

Love is the law, love under will.

Witness our hand and seal:

[Impression of the ring seal] [Masonic mark]

Baphomet X° O.H.O.

[Crowley to McMurtry, June 17, 1947:]

“Netherwood”, The Ridge, Hastings.

17th June, 1947.

Dear Grady,

Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.

It seems a long while since I heard from you. This is a great mistake: I will tell you why, in strict confidence. In the event of my death, Frater Saturnus is of course my successor, but after his death the terrible burden of responsibility might very easily fall upon your shoulders; for this reason I should like you to keep closely in touch with me.

I am sending you a bound copy of “Olla” to remind you of me.

By the way, “Magick Without Tears” is almost finished, but there are two letters missing; these will either have to be found or re-written. There appears to be quite a good chance of getting the book issued through a regular Publisher. This means, of course, that the discount will be very much heavier, but this is all to your advantage, because it means the selling of many more extra copies, and your share is 25% of the gross receipts, not of the net.

I am very busy this afternoon so I must break off here.

Love is the law, love under will.

Yours fraternally,

Aleister

[Crowley to Germer, June 19, 1946]

Care Frater,

In case this letter should miss you in New York, I am having an extra copy made and sending it to Frater H.A. (Capt. Grady L. McMurtry, 1661, Sacramento Street, Apt. 3, San.Francisco 9).

Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.

You fail to make my flesh creep with yours of June 12. It is inconceivable after all these years, but you seem to fail to understand how Magick works. The safeguards are automatic.

The reasons for the apparent secrecy of which we make so much are really unnecessary. Let me put it to you like this:

First of all, I hand out these terribly destroying documents to the first typist that I find handy without taking the slightest precautions and without a qualm. You might think that I was myself breaking my oaths. If there were any real need of secrecy how easy it would be for me to send every 3rd or 4th page of the documents to as many different typists and re-assemble them afterwards. But it simply is not worth while taking the trouble.

What are the odds against a typist understanding the importance, the value, the practical application or even any kind of significance whatever in those documents? The chance is negligible.

But, we will now suppose that the complete document from one chance or another fell into the hands of a complete stranger who is interested in the subject, and who has the intelligence to appreciate the value of those documents.

Even so, what is the chance that that person will also have the original magical capacity, the magical power, and the magical training to carry out these instructions? Again, it is negligible.

But granting all this, what use can that person make of the information in any way contrary to his own True Will? It simply cannot be done.

For mischief to arise therefore one would have to imagine that these documents fell into the hands of an already prominent member of some Black Lodge or other. Consider the reaction. The nature of the formula would appall him; it would be as if a man who was looking for the formula of the secret arrow poison of the South American Indians so as to get rid of a rich aunt at the right moment got the prescription and on translating it found it was merely a cure for mumps. What would be his position: he would give a sharp bark of disappointment and tear up the whole thing with a curse.

But in the case of anyone who is in legitimate possession of those documents the matter assumes an entirely different aspect. He has fixed his True Will publicly by oaths so that he cannot possibly use the formula in opposition to those oaths. All he would do by attempting any such misconduct would be to invoke the Thaumiel, the Qliphoth of Kether, which translated into modern jargon would mean that he was in for schizaphrenia {sic}.

You apparently seem inclined to reproach me for having trusted Frater 210 {Jack Parsons} as deeply as I did, but I did this on purpose in accordance with an ancient and well-known magical formula.

Our Work is not to be considered in the same light as that of some ordinary business concern where it is possible to steal property or secret information and get away with it. In our case the deeper I trust a man the deeper he is committed to the appropriate penalties should he betray that trust.

It has nothing to do with inflicting penalties and all that sort of thing. If you will read the last paragraph of The Vision and the Voice you will see what the position actually is, and if I were to take any overt measures of a penal character, I should myself be cutting myself off from the perfect protection which I should otherwise enjoy.

If I have an Atom Bomb in my pocket it is silly for me to go out and buy a derringer, and to do so in such a case would simply be to deprive myself of the right of using my bomb.

Now we come to the subject of authority. My original appointment of you as my Viceroy and Plenipotentiary covers everything, even apart from you, Frater H.A. has an authority which enables him to supersede Frater 210 whenever he pleases. The only limitation on his power in California is that any decision which he takes is subject to revision or veto by yourself.

I do not wish to advise either you or Frater H.A. to take any definite action. You are more or less on the spot and in a position to form your own judgment and to exercise your authority as you deem fit.

From the information in your letter from Frater R.L. it seems that Frater 210 attaches some importance to his supposed authority in the Lodge. Here then is your big stick. You can suspend him or expel him or your can summon him to appear for trial before the Grand Consistory whose members you yourself nominate, and act accordingly.

I think the above may be considered as covering the main points of your letter of June 12. For minor matters I will write separately,

Yours ever, [Aleister Crowley]