xxii 
PREFACE 
closely. But dig deeper and the resemblance falls apart 
altogether. There is enough data presented in this striking set 
of letters, apart from anything else the man has written in his 
long literary life, to thoroughly destroy any such possibility. 
A bohemian and eccentric he may well have been-a hippy 
never! 
Many of the young people of today are turning 
toward his writing with a view to resolving some of the most 
serious problems of our time-conflicts 
which affect them 
and our society most seriously. In this, I think they are 
showing some deep wisdom. But in many of their overt 
attitudes and behavior, it seems as if they are missing the 
boat entirely. This is why it is imperative that they become 
familiar with the tenets of these letters, to make them part 
and parcel of their own mental and spiritual equipment. They 
may find a variety of answers or suggestions which, if 
followed, could result in a transformation of their lives and 
those of succeeding generations. 
(1) For sloppiness and untidiness, Crowley had absolutely 
no use. Only when on expeditions of one kind or another, 
did he ever look grimy or untidy. Otherwise he was fastidious 
to a degree, and proud of it. Not that he was compulsive or 
an exponent of conforming to social dictates or the arbitrary 
whims of current fashion-far 
from it. He was violently 
opposed to such conformist attitudes, a true rebel toward 
that as to almost everything else. 
(2) Like many of today's generation, he used drugs. He 
had experimented with many psychedelic agents-with some 
that are totally unfamiliar to our young folk today. Because 
of Allan Bennett's asthma, drugs were experimented with to 
experience 
relief from the bronchial paroxysms and 
dyspnoea. An incidental and not anticipated effect at first 
was the psychedelic effect, the inadvertent experience of 
mystical states of consciousness. These occurred, I am 
inclined 
to believe, 
not merely 
because 
of the 
pharmacodynamism 
of the drug but because Allan was 
mystically inclined, and because he had already undergone