NOVEMBER 8, 2016

When Crowley Met Gurdjieff

I find it disheartening that,

in certain circles, Aleister
Crowley is considered a
“man of the Right.” While
he is undoubtedly an
interesting character, and
was not without some
intelligence, he strikes me as
an immoral degenerate who
was committed to the total
destruction of the Western
tradition. The most generous
interpretation would be a Nietzschean one, in which he was perhaps attempting to push
what was already falling. But the fact is, his influence has been almost wholly negative.
“By their fruits ye shall know them” is still the best way to judge a spiritual teacher,
and one needn’t be a Christian to recognize the utility and practicality of that formula.
The fruits of a spiritual teacher are, among other things, his disciples, and I am not
aware of any “Crowleyites” that give their master a good name.

The best story about Aleister Crowley, in my opinion, comes to us from the disciples of
G.I. Gurdjieff. No stranger to controversy himself (see Whitall Perry’s Gurdjieff in the
Light of Tradition for a critical appraisal) Gurdjieff nonetheless seems to have fared better
than Crowley in terms of the legacy he has left behind.

The story of when Crowley met Gurdjieff can be found in James Webb’s comprehensive
book, The Harmonious Circle:

Crowley knew the town of Fontainebleau well – in 1924 he had spent a

tormented period there in an attempt to cure himself of heroin addiction. The
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agreeGreat
to theirBeast
use. was a familiar figure in Paris expatriate circles, and [C.S.] Nott met
him
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aroused either by a general occult curiosity or by Gurdjieff’s reputation as a
 specialist in curing drug addiction; and he soon afterward turned up at
Fontainebleau, where was the object of some amazement. To one of the inmates,
the Wickedest Man in the World seemed overfed and inoffensive – with the
exception of his almost colorless eyes, the antipodes to Gurdjieff’s heavy gaze.
The published accounts of Crowley at the Prieure speak only of a brief visit and
a vaguely sinister impression. Nott records that Crowley spoke to one of the
children present about his son whom he was teaching to be a devil. “Gurdjieff
got and spoke to the boy, who thereupon took no further notice of Crowley.”
But the magician’s visit was extensive, and his confrontation with Gurdjieff of a
more epic nature.

Crowley arrived for a whole weekend and spent the time like any other visitor
to the Prieure; being shown the grounds and the activities in progress, listening
to Gurdjieff’s music and his oracular conversation. Apart from some
circumspection, Gurdjieff treated him like any other guest until the evening of
his departure. After dinner on Sunday night, Gurdjieff led the way out of the
dining room with Crowley, followed by the body of pupils who had also been at
the meal. Crowley made his way toward the door and turned to take his leave of
Gurdjieff, who by this time was some way up the stairs to the second floor.
“Mister, you go?” Gurdjieff inquired. Crowley assented. “You have been guest?”
– a fact which the visitor could hardly deny. “Now you go, you are no longer
guest?” Crowley – no doubt wondering whether his host had lost his grip on
reality and was wandering in a semantic wilderness – humored his mood by
indicating that he was on his way back to Paris. But Gurdjieff, having made the
point that he was not violating the canons of hospitality, changed on the instant
into the embodiment of righteous anger. “You filthy,” he stormed, “you dirty
inside! Never again you set foot in my house!” From his vantage point on the
stairs, he worked himself up into a rage which quite transfixed his watching
pupils. Crowley was stigmatized as the sewer of creation was taken apart and
trodden into the mire. Finally, he was banished in the style of East Lynne by a
Gurdjieff in fine histrionic form. Whitefaced and shaking, the Great Beast crept
back to Paris with his tail between his legs.

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Written by Martin Aurelio (https://martinaurelio.wordpress.com/author/martinaurelio/) —

Posted in Uncategorized (https://martinaurelio.wordpress.com/category/uncategorized/) —
Tagged with Aleister Crowley (https://martinaurelio.wordpress.com/tag/aleister-crowley/),
Gurdjieff (https://martinaurelio.wordpress.com/tag/gurdjieff/)

2 comments
JUNE 4, 2018 - 4:26 AM
Gabe Girard

Might you have a source for this interesting meeting?

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 JUNE 27, 2018 - 4:42 AM
Martin Aurelio (https://martinaurelio.wordpress.com)

As it says in the post, it comes from James Webb’s book The Harmonious Circle.

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