ZNUZ IS ZNEES, Excerpt from vol.

MEMOIRS OF A MAGICIAN

EDITED & REVISED

By C.F. Russell

I
The Magical Commentaries
From Volume I:

``Therion''

In 1917 I bought a copy of Vierick's ``International'' & was

intrigued by
From their
and in

a series
author I

June, 1918,

apartment, then
answered my

knock

on

my

with

lunch. I

birthday,

9th
a

St.

in

hypnotic

saw

New

him

York

stare,

and

at

his

City.

He

made

an

remained most of the day; we took

journey together,

others, including

The Revival of Magick.

secured several books along this line,

on West

appointment for
an astral

of articles:

and in the evening he and some

...A and his wife, ...IWDWIC initiated me

into the IIIo of O.T.O., a synthetic society which gives the

gist of

Freemasonry and more in Eleven Degrees, the rest of

which I

acquired later.

Appropriately enough,

there was a

total eclipse

of the Sun that day. Returning to N.Y. in the

Fall, had further experiences with A.C. One eve before going
to a

party given by Mme. G., I visited his new apartment on

the south side of Washington Square, where he lived with the

``Dead Soul'',

to pick

decision (after

a Tarot

...A organize
[see Vol.
Sicaly

up his

a group

II], at

to

latest book,

seance) to

go to

and make

the

Detroit to help

of higher Masons. Successful in this

of 1920, I joined the Wizard in

and

secretarial

study

the end
do

work.

Documentary

evidence, if C or Y or is it Symonds, will ever let loose of

it, exists

of my

mostly to

sorjourn which I would like to see first,

refute and

debunk, so that I will not waste time

discussing distortions

here. Not worth while to set matters

straight, at

least not

involved have

not been

would react

while some
as yet

persons

consulted to

who

might

see how

be
they

to revelations I might make. After all, I am no

cad or muckraker, there has been enough of that! Here I will

be content
and his

simply to

dispel the

illusion held by this man

disciples that he was ``The Beast.'' In this he was

never sincere except in a psychopathic manner until later he

became addicted

to drugs and lost capacity to overcome this

obsession. The

real Beast is Sorath, the Sun Demon (spelled

Samech,

Vau,

Resh,

Tau),

described

by

John

in

``Revelations.'' Crowley's complex was a feeble imitation of

the genuine, unless we have to admit that coming events cast
their light
childish play

before them.

has to

in ace

endure. A.C.

Evil as

of what
was a

he

was,

his

game

was

mankind in centuries to come

poet,

litterateur,

and

Adept

enough to

gather earnest

occultism. He

failed because

and through
which

disciples

of

yoga,

magic,

and

of disloyalty to his friends,

can

his whole performance runs a thread of quackery

be

uncovered

by

logic

honest,

unbiased

research. I

retired from

promote his

work over 30 years ago, although in view of the

fact that

Light must

the Outer

and

have Darkness

College, and ceased to

as a foil, I can still

find use for his masterpiece, Liber Legis, which he wrote as

directed by ...Aiwaz in 1904. [See Vol. II] Lapses of memory

about this

are due

anhalonium at

the

to his
time.

having taken
Sufficit,

a large

Perdurabl,

dose
et

of

longum

probitas perdurat in aevum. (Ovid, Med. Fac. 49).

``Collectanea''

In Provenance

(1944) and its Continuation, I have cataloged

and analyzed
I still

my book collecting in a way never done before.

have some

selections from

35 out of the first 315 numbered items &

Chapter VI.

Other inanimate

objects

were

acquired such as Stamps, Coins, Knives, Firearms and Radios,

the bulk

of which are long gone, since I couldn't take them

with me; value of pieces intrinsically was minimal - maximal

was acquired

ability and

know how

to get

what I

need or

want.

Contributions to
of

what

the Great Work (defined elsewhere) consist

improvements

predecessors, plus
to educate

could

for

on

efforts

of

methods of my own discovery or invention

thinking, feeling,

suitable

make

study

and

and willing

practice

by

- all these are

any

person

sufficient interest

and enough

intelligence. In

the

finds

Algorithms

mathematician

new

and

with

my works,
Viewpoints

hitherto unknown

- see Chapter VII and Bibliography - e.g.,

I was

to enumerate permutations and combinations

the first

and develop

the corresponding

components,

construct

an

syllogisms

(predating

all

centuries-old A

Arithmetic, codify the cubic

electrical
other

engine

attempts),

to

solve

reduce

the

Fortiori Argument to a perfect three-termed

syllogism (Barbara

Cubed, April, 1944), and so on! My books

must now speak for themselves - I am retired!

For the

curious, I

Curriculum

of

the

recommend highly
Secret

Order,

The

Complete

G...B...G

Magick

(Llewellen

Publications, P.O. Box 3383, St. Paul, MN 55101 - $10.00, or

your favorite book seller) by an ex-pupil, Louis T. Culling,

who has

full responsibility

proof reed

this pregnant

However, certain
meaning of

for its

I did not

volume - they thought I was dead.

contextual

the letters

contents -

errors

as on

are

title page

O.K.,

e.g.,

(1)

is not correct -

leave it that way!; (2) Page 17, oath as stated is wrong; to

have given

it as it truly is would be to violate it. Credit

Louis for using discretion; (3) Page 5, ``Russell went up on

`The Rock' for food or water. Jane W---- took food and water
to Russell

and brought

mistake which

him down.''

conflicts with

John

I cannot
Symond's

endorse this
account

(the

Symonds of Chapter VI), both in his Great Beast, and also in

his edition
Ed, February,

of the

right name,
have to

Confessions (Hill

1970). In

neither case

either magical

identify me?

& Wang, 1st American

am I mentioned by my

or otherwise - so why did Louis

I will deal with this garbled tale in

my chapter on `The Rock.' The Beauty who came calling in the

moonlight was not named ``Jane,'' nor did she bring me down.

Having finish

my

self-appointed

task

in

eight

days

as

planned, I returned to the Abbey, voluntarily, took up where

I had

left off

and commingled

other chores with passing a

test for a higher grade - dig infra!; (4) Page 69, ssq, here
Louis must

have mixed

iron'', or

perhaps confused

error? In

up

his

``Opera''

Q with

with

his

``One

Omega, a typographical

two books (Louis never got the final editions), I

explained the
Diana, Book

Jack and Jill Formula: J-J deals with Alpha &

E is on Omega, but ``Q'' is something else, not

found in

Heavenly Bridegrooms

(N.Y., 1918),

Theodore

Schroeder,

any

C[raddock]'', nor
published or

nor

other

thing

by

``Ida

in anything authored by Aleister Crowley,

not, nor

private. WAW's

in

edited by Dr.

Essay on

in any of my own writings, public or

#43 in

my Book CHAM (2nd Edition,

June, 1976) goes no farther than Substance of J-J & E, omits

their Technic

and does not discuss ``Q''. Need I say More?;

(5) Page

53, Louis

with some

of his

himself, fills
pages, plus

gives Chapter

I of

Liber Al vel Legis

own comment. Revised exegesis by Crowley,

a volume

of 224

single-spaced

typewritten

index - please permit me a word or two. Therion

admits that Liber Trigrammaton is unsatisfactory solution of

II, 55, but in latest editions of my Book Y (See also CHAM),
I have

out the

correct 27 attributions - i.e., the ``order

and value of the English Alphabet.'' In another instruction,

I explained

II, 76!; (6) Page 105 - Since we parted company

circa 1936, Culling, of course was n'au courant pas my books

G-W and B-W (See Page 97 of Provenance) & CHAM, 1st edition,
never published

before April

important, some

omission, perhaps reserved for later, e.g.,

no mention
Finally -

of

such

effectual

except for

``Curriculum'' has

1940. Other

occult

errata are

exercises

incompleteness and

merit -

read it,

as

less

P-W.

obsolescence, the

shows a

heap of hard

work, utmost sincerity and loyalty! How could I possibly put

down (Page 2):

``Well the

Frater ...Genesthai,

in Practicing
genius of

Magick, was,

this Century,

C.F. Russell, as a teacher

without question,

or several

the greatest

past centuries

that I

have been able to trace.''

``Lay''

Exegete recension
standing on

on the important I, 51 about entering and

the floor

Koong, June,

of the

my Siao Shu Jun

what succeeds

``therefore'',

1955), stresses

Palace (see

endeavoring to explain the text with ten single-spaced pages

of

Anti-Christian

personal, sacred

triage

and

advocacy

of

the

Scribe's

fetishism and without dealing specifically

with the ``means and means'' marked by the minister of HoorPaar-Kraat, except

actually to ``confound the space-marks''

here and in the seventeen page explanation of next verse, I,

52, threatening ``direful judgments'', Ra-Hoor-Khuit has for
those who

do that very thing! Scholarship demands the whole

context, which

since it

runs on the same theme through 224

pages, can't

be reproduced

further enlightenment

here, ``therefore'' study Q for

- obviously

``Aiwass'' was not about

to shed Light on Q, provided He could!

Truth is best served by a twelve-fold survey of the subject,

or a succinct summation - poetic license oft can hinder more
than help,

but on one has yet ascribed accurately all human

activities to

the Signs

of the Zodiac, although a big step

has been

made by Dr. Rudolf Steiner in his four lectures in

Berlin -

20 to

23

Thought,

q.v.,

and

January,
Dr.

Fundamental Problems;
their solutions

1914,

Eugen

on

Kolisko,

Human
M.D.,

and
in

Cosmic
Three

no room

here except for suggestions,

of continuity

supplying shocks to surprise

scholastic recidivivism
breath puts period here.

reincarnated among us. Shortness of

``For

brevity

is

very

good,

when

w'are

or

are

not

understood''
Butler, Hudibras, Canto I, line 669.

No question

about

consecration

in

the

Ritual

(I,

65);

Crowley's 17

page lectures on his favorite topic is as good

as elsewhere,

but no gloss on ``space-marks;'' verily these

may be

the wounds

to terrorize the Old Aeonities - gaps to

clot rather than thresholds to cross from the Age of Gabriel

to that of Michael.

Form must agree with Substance (Page 97) - see also Intro to
Book CHAM

(2nd ed.),

this new

epoch, our

was done

well only

page xiii - ``CHHING LOI JU YUN''; in

job is

when self-conscious

interfere. On

Page 120

touts Chapter

36 of

BREAKS) as
to

to do wide-awake what hitherto

of The

- asleep,

Great Beast,

the Book

of Lies

John

did not
Symonds

... (falsely called

induce

``inadvertent'' disclosure urging Theodore Reuss

Crowley

to

join

O.T.O.

But

beyond

secret

instructions, this is not A.C.'s most explicit - to wit, the

Apep Rite

in Vol.

I, No.

7 of

The Equinox (March, 1912).

Anticipating what may appear elsewhere, note that the ``Star

Ruby'' is

clear and candid, as I have annotated it, whereas

the ``Star

Sapphire'', although analeptic, is ambiguous! In

conjunction with

the printed

documentary

untangle

supra);

to

anyway,

we

exposition referred

evidence, Symonds

twisted

praise
to above,

him

chronology
for

the

and later

ne

had enough
(page

113,

plus

ultra

on in 1958 in The

Magic of

Aleister Crowley,

public, sympathetic
not quibble
cloud

or not,

about who,

characin

page 96 ssq, where the informed

fairly, further

when, and

character

of

can judge and

where, which
the

what,

needlessly

plainly

and

penetratingly permeating the Paris Working, ably outlined in

the bewitching

prose of John Symonds. The Latin invocations

of Hermes

(Mercury), and

you enjoy

mumbo jumbo

pompously you

Zeus (Jupiter)

as O.S.V.

might prefer

are available, if

and L.T.

- [follows

did,

but

less

two pages of purely

personal poetry, not here reproduced - see Part II].

``Arcana''

Ordinary invective
hominem, the
must deal

is

emotionally

clothed

argumentum

ad

losing disputant's resort. Adequate refutation

with the

whole context, point by point, occupies

much space and time, is tedious, dull and usurps more energy

than

subject

deserves.

invention of
test the

Extraordinary

vituperation, often

abuse

is

profane and

rational

obscene,

to

victim's Znuz. III, 59: ``As brothers fight ye!'';

II, 59-60: ``Beware therefore! Love all, lest perchance is a

King concealed!

Say you

so? Fool!

If he

be a

King, thou

canst not

hurt him.

hell with

them, Master!'' This wise procedure is adopted by

Fraternities in

initiatory Rites

group therapy.
can't stand

Therefore! strike hard and low, and to

As the

and by

great Harry

the heat,

get out

psychiatrists

Truman said:

of the

``If

in
you

kitchen!'' Maturity

will treat insults for what they strictly are - declarations

of love!

Love is

a form

of insanity - to be in love is an

ordeal of Initiation! Symonds (Page 194 of The Great Beast):

``The Confessions,
written with
of his

an eye

deeds and

seems a

or Autohagiography, of Aleister Crowley,

to publication, only skims the surface

thoughts; there

the story

of The

Beast

mere shadow-play compared with the full tide of his

priapic cries in The Magical Record.''

I ought
of my

to know,
job as

having copies them all up to date as part

his secretary!

others concerned,

Add to

and autograph

that the

Diaries

of

in Liber Legis given me on

leaving the Abbey, and mutual correspondence after my return

to the

U.S. (in

Jones) (in

one letter,

another, he

Snowdrops), and
accusations, and

he tried

wanted

the high
you will

me

to

praise in
get a

to get me to spy on
finance

reprinting

the same text with the

synthetic viewpoint

from

which to
hides the

realize that

is no

whatever scolding

exists vents

and

agony of a grief-stricken lover. To me it was and

big deal; the small part of my life meshed with A.C.,

though larger
23) did

and later

not ruin

than the

fifth year episode (page

me in any way and taught me a lot! Please

allow my

own allusions, conducive to a broader perspective,

the same

license advocated in his II, 60 and don't ``make a

great miss''

(II, 27)

about the

provocation! On

the wall

above the wide bed on the floor of the Couchemar was a small
plaque engraved

with six

words, the

initial letter of the

fourth was variable, it could be an N or an H:

``ALYS CUSACK IS -to at HOME!''

Unfortunately for her, she was not my type; for me there was
never the

physical fascination

presumably evoked

in Alain

Lutily and Fra. ...L.T., who in time outgrew it.

As to

Chess,

curriculum (in

although

did

adhere

Provenance Continuation

to

the

prescribed

indeed you see many

items acquired later, until I discovered the great secret of

Chess which is simply this: for every move of your opponent,
make the

correct adjustment, defensive or offensive, as the

case may be. In games now, I always take Black, which forces
the other

to cut

bait and

fish, or

else stew

in his own

juice, depending on his Virtue) even then to beat Crowley, I

did

not

need

to

study

outmoded

textbooks

(full

of

misprints)! In practice, when about to lose he had the habit

of tipping

over the

board, or

else The

Great Wild

Beast

would stand up suddenly without a word of apology, and stalk

of to

perform pressing

business in

another place

more

often than not the pharmaceutical shelf. Kipling's masterful

exposition in
its most

Stalky &

Co of sportsmanship would not claim

conspicuous champion

ruthlessness

in

playing

the

``Thelema;''

the

words

used

remember, as

well as

Once upon

a time,

imagination, he
pulling the

here. Pari
version

shocking -

in

showing off

passu recall his

of

scoring

Fives
were

called
easy

to

but there was no referee!

the power of his memory and

played with me a game of chess blindfolded,

covers up over his head while I sat at the desk

in the

corner telling the moves as we made them. My mistake

was in

not recording

them! In

the

end

game,

respective

positions did not match; he said it was my fault for stating

some

move

wrongly

so

the

game

was

called

off.

By

continuing it,
Later on,

he would

have been

while making-up

Chela), lo

mated in

the bed

short

(one of

order!

my chores as a

stupid as

and behold, under his pillow (How could he be so

to leave

set, peg-pieces

a miniature, portable chess

and all! On Page 875 of the Confessions, he

writes: ``unless
playing at

it there?)

one played

all,'' but

to win,

there was no point in

my notion of winning did not justify

cheating!

Chronology of

the ``Rock

published books:
page 175

Retirement'' is

compare page

tangled

in

the

872 of the Confessions, with

of the Great Beast by Symonds. On his way to swim,

carrying a

towel and

a cane, unusual - perhaps he forgot I

was not a coolie - he issued his ultimatum. But the ``turnip

with blood-shot

eyes'' (I

love you

too!) was not ``out of

the room by six o'clock'' nor ``By six o'clock was he in his
new quarters.''
back from
name, so

Symonds correctly

his swim,
who can

and finding

say, except

says: ``The
Fiat Lux

L.T.C.,

Beast

came

(not my magical

that

this

jumbled

jarvel belongs to me?) still adamant, retired to his room to

ponder on

the situation.'' The anecdotes are adventitiously

adorned; the

unvarnished truth

is strange

enough and more

sensational than any tea table talk!

Similar appraisal
Experiment (Page
Beast). ``The

applies
871 of

to

remarks

about

the

Cocaine

Confessions; page 163 of The Great

naval surgeons

managed to

save his

life.''

Nonsense! There was only one, my friend, Dr. P. (who refused

to accept

the manufactured evidence of an iodine spot on my

right arm,

to the

but kindly

hospital -

consented to cooperate by signing me

he did nothing else, not even to make an

injection of morphine, where I had a ball with the nurses in

an isolation

ward waiting

purpose of

the whole

custom, I

had reached

I labored

discharge, which was the

scheme.) The

foreseeable future,
the hundreds

for my

the top

I had

war was over; as was my

grade I

served my

could get

in

the

country well - out of

of flu patients in my charge, I lost only one.

hard while

my superiors slept, my preparation of

cod-liver-oil emulsion

was

so

good

that

every

examinee

copped some to put out as his own - not the category for any
more,

but

handled

some

tasks

avoided and

got the

credit of

best friend!

It was

not easy

reputation and

efficiently

which

others

being the venereal victims'

to offset

my most excellent

unimpeachable character, so I had to cook up

something weird
undesirable,
Armistice

and against

so

was

871 of

One

it!

to

week

Don't

friends, they

make
after

the

confide

often

me

your

change

the

it suits them - even a Master is

trusted! But some did tacitly acquiesce -

sympathized and

the Confessions):

escape notice,

grain

out.

made

you when

to be

the Admiral

to close

attitude towards

known

get

declared

intrigues, even

not always

could

my

went along. Crowley says (page

``His experiment,

failed.'' Do

if intended to

I read here that even he had a

faint inkling of the truth?

Now, regarding

the Rock,

I will

not polish

up my

Record

(which I have) as did ``John St. John'' (Vol I, No. 1 of The

Equinox),

nor

fill.Note the

asterisk

gaps

consistency of

my

poetical

that decoy

genius

(Page 840

can't
of the

Confessions):

``The meditation of this afternoon resulted in an Initiation

so stupendous

that I

dare not

hint at its Word. It is the

supreme secret of a Magus, and it is so awful that I tremble

even now
time -

- two

hours later,

and more

- 2:20 P.M. was the

as I write concerning it. In a single instant, I had

the Key

to the

the Yi

King, he

ed. of

my Book

glimpse as

whole Chinese [After years of practice with

did not

CHAM] Wisdom.

it was

and philosophy

know the secret of that - see 2nd

In

the

light

momentary

- of this truth, all systems of religion

become absolutely puerile - The secret comes

along the Path of Aleph to Chokmah. I could write it plainly

in a

few words

of one

syllable, and most people would not

even notice it ...''

There is more, but I think you will get the point!

I found the secret of Thelema and hinted at it in one volume

of my

diary - but he did not catch on, or he would not have

been pleased

- see

below about Jones. Also, reflect on the

Chapter The Ipsissimus, The Great Beast, Page 165:

``I swore to keep silence, so long as I live, about the fact

of my attainment.''

That's why

he recorded the details? Else you might miss the

point?! Horse

shit! Again,

in his essay, The Psychology of

Hashish (reprinted by Regardie in Roll Away the Stone):

``I sat

up all

one

night

embodying

the

essence

of

my

knowledge in this.''

Here, as
but in

elsewhere, he

interprets transcendental

trances,

purely intellectual terms, by no means inspired, and

not very

scholarly at

Samadhi and

up seems

that!

Crowley's

acquaintance

with

to be on a par with his comprehension

of the nature of Cannabis, in fact, poisonous and peculiarly

effective because prematurely developed.

Part I

of Book

from the

4 and

Eight Lectures

on Yoga are built up

whole cloth of hearsay, and do not reach the heart

of even

that subject!

My summary

that Magick was a peg on

which to hang his authoring, is well considered. Combination

of magical
but not

and literary

impossible. Science

instrument can

distort any

like Houdini
charlatanry
world.

talents in the same person is rare

and John
and

safeguards; if

you can

communicate what
Threshold with

the

investigative

can thank

those

Scarne who do their utmost to expose

Spiritual

you are

how

discovery; we

self-deception

Authentic

Path, and

knows

which

Science

there you

make no
you learn!

would
Itself

get there

error, and

deceive
has

built-in

by the

will be

Widespread won't

the

right

careful to
to cross the

out facing-up to the Guardian is responsible

mostly for

Occultism's bad

repute. Emphasize

that if

you

ignore the

Guardian, you don't know yourself! Like a lot of

works of Nietzsche, and W.W., most of A.C.'s were written by

the Devil. Everyone who enters the Path must be Tempted; not

all overcome!

Achad (Jones) was a favorite and most faithful disciple, his

``son'' for

who he wrote Liber Aleph (he wrote Liber Samekh

for Progradior, Bennett) - for me he wrote an inscription in

my copy

of the Bagh-I-Muattar! At first he obtained results

which supported
``Book of
of the

A.C.s

claim

of

supernaturalness

of

the

the Law'' and was welcomed to the Grade of Master

Temple. Later,

transcended that

with the

stage to

same qabalistic

open the

door wider

keys,
than

he
A.C.

wanted it. Therion showed me communications from Jones:

``Do you

know him

better than

I do,

what do you think of

this?''

wanting me
honest

to agree

judgment

that Achad

was

that

had flipped

both

had

blown

his

lid.

their

My

tops!

Accepting the rebuff with good grade, Jones slowed his pace,
so as
work on

not to

end of
to

me,

outrun the

the foundations,
a beautiful
and

Leader, but

put hit keen mind to

and this was the beginning of the

partnership. Something similar happened

explains

paragraph

on

page

874

of

the

Constitution. Commenting

something in one of my diaries, he

wrote:

``This is remarkable as revealing knowledge belonging to the

most exalted Grade''.

yet coming

down to

what demands

less depth of acuity, but

might become public, he would with mock humility write:

``Even after
clung to

he had

regained sanity

the conviction

initiated him
course, have

in most

matters,

he

that his adventure on the Rock had

to a Grade far superior to mine. I should, of

been only

decaying debris

of my

too glad

if this had happened. The

Oedipus complex

still

stinks,which

stink being interpreted may have rendered in English, `How I

with I

had someone

Angel, whose
my weakness
shift at

to go

to, a

humanity would
and weariness,

least a

little of

man like

myself, not

an

understand and sympathize with

and on
the

whose shoulders I might

responsibility

which

is

rather

in

breaking my back' ''!

This

was

written

not

after

the

fact,

but

anticipation, for
Best

to

never did

eradicate

discrediting it

I declare any such conviction.

competition

reductio ad

before

absurdam. But

it

stars

polemics

by
prove

nothing; I offer all this merely as food for thought. Adepts

do not

debate teach

their respective

other in

public (or in private) about

attainments! The layman would be justified

in crying:

``A pox

simply to

rub grains

on both your houses''! My compulsion is

of salt

in the

wounds made

in

the

Beautiful Body of Truth by which you may meet here or there.

The proof
will be

of my

own pudding, if you can eat and digest it,

whether or

spirit, and

not it can fortify your body, soul, and

help you

opinion that

the only

accomplish The
chapters of

Great Work.

It is my

this attempt of Memoirs

with any

permanent worth at all are VII and XV (so far!) If

the rest

is bait,then

in swallowing

the husk

you may get

hooked on the fruit!

Misit in ignotam qui rude semem humum (Ov.Tr.3,8)