M. Pasi_Influence of Crowley on Pessoa

8/12/2019 M. Pasi_Influence of Crowley on Pessoa

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ESOTERISME GNOSESIMAGINAIRE SYMBOLIQUE:MELANGES offerts a Antoine FAIVRE

Edit(: parRichard CARON, Joscelyn GODWIN Wouter J HANEGRAAFF

Jean-Louis VIEILLARD-BARON

PEETERS2001


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TABLE DE MATIERESJean Robert ARMOGATHE, Liminaire X

PARTIE 1. ALCHIMIE. HERMETISME. KABBALE.Rodof VAN DEN BROEK A Dutch Painting ofMercurius Hermes 3Richard CARON, Notes sur l'histoire de lalchimie en France a a fin du

XIX et au debut du XX siecle 17Allison P COUDERT, Seventeenth-Century Natural Philosophy and Eso-

tericism at the Court ofSulzbach 27Allen G. DEBUS, French Alchemy in the Early Enlightenment 47Claude GAGNON, Comparaison des deux versions latines du 'Livre des

Figures hitfroglyphiques' attribue aNicolas Flamel 61Moshe IDEL, Kabbalah and Hermeticism in Dame Frances A :lates s

Renaissance 71Didier KAHN, Architecture, Riforme et alchimie en Franche-Comte vers

1560 91Wallace KIRSOP, Les collections de livres alchimiques entre 1700 et1830: adeptes, curieux et bibliophiles 101Sylvain MATTON, Les 'Metamorphoses' dApulee dans fa litterature

alchimique de fa Renaissance au XVIII' siecie . . . . . . 113Monika NEUGEBAUER-WOLK, "Denn dis ist Muglich, Lieber Sohn ':

Zur esoterischen Obersetzungstradition des Corpus Hermeticum inder friihen Neuzeit 131Mirko SLADEK Die Feuerpriester am Portikus der Markusbibliothek in

Venedig: Zur Feueranbetung in der Ikonographie der Renaissance. 145Joachim TELLE, Die "Hand der Philosophen": Zu einem Lehrbild derJriihneuzeitlichen Alchimia-Picta- Tradition 165Thomas WILLARD, The Enigma of Nicolas Barnaud: An Alchemical

Riddle from Early Modern France . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199PARTIE II. ROMANTISME ALLEMAND. NATURPHILOSOPHIE.

THEOSOPHIE CHRETIENNEReinhard BREYMAYER 1m Spannungsfeld zwischen Spinoza und

Thomasius bei ZinzendorJ: Emanuel Wollebs Stammbucheintragfor Friedrich Christoph Oetinger, Herrnhut, 27. April 1730 217

Pierre DEGHAYE "Gedulla" et "Gebura': Le 'Dictionnaire bibfique etemblematique'de Friedrich Christoph Oetinger 1776) 233

Dietrich VON ENGELHARDT, Naturforschung als Mythologie und Mis-sion bei Johann Salomo Christoph Schweigger 1779-1857) 249

Jacques FABRY Du Pietisme a la tMosophie: Johann Heinrich Jung-Stilling 1740-1817) 267

Maurice DE GANDILLAC Deux images cusaines: l'icone de Bruxefles ete jeu de boules 279

Helmut GEBELEIN, Zur Alchemie im Werke Novalis 285Nicole JACQUES-LEFEVRE Esquisse dune anthropologie saint-marti-

nienne 301Jean-Fran,


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John F MOFFITI, Modern Extraterrestrial Portraiture: An Art-Histori-cal Inquest 669

Marco PAS , The Influence ofAleister Crowley on Fernando Pessoa's Eso-teric Writings 693

Arthur VERSLUIS, Magical Fiction 713Jean-Jacques WUNENBURGER, Les revelations du miroir dans la meta-

physique imaginale 725Annexe. Frederick TRISTAN, Atalante nouvelle inedite) 735

PARTIE v. METHODOLOGIE(S) ET PERSPECTIVESEN HISTOIRE DE CESOTERISME

Jean-Pierre BRACH, Quelques rt Jlexions sur les flndements spr culatifs dela symbolique des nombres 741Maurice-Ruben HAyOUN, Pour une biographie intellectuelle de Ger-

shom Scholem : Entre Berlin et jerusalem 749Jean-Pierre LAURANT, Esoterisme et transmission 765Pierre LORY, Le paradoxe dans la mystique: Le cas de Hallaj 773Seyyed Hossein NASR, Henry Corbin (1903-1978): Souvenirs et

rt Jlexions sur son influence intellectuelle vingt ans apres 783Emile POULAT, De la pensee traditionnelle a a pensee virtuelle 797Pierre A. RrFFARD, L'esoterisme nous apprend-il quelque chose? 807James B. ROBINSON, Correspondance and Transformation 819Jerome ROUSSE-LACORDA RE, Rapatriements theologiques de la forme

de pensee esoterique: rapport de la taxinomie d'Antoine Faivre a art Jlexion theologique . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 831Ivan STRENSKI, Liberal Protestant Theology and or the 'Science

Religieuse'? 841Frederick TRISTAN, Les 'Cahiers de l'Hermetisme' . 855Jean-Louis VIEILLARD-BARON, L'Esoterisme entre religion et philoso-

phie: Pour une elucidation conceptuelle 859APPENDICE

Antoine FANRE: Bibliographie 1960-2000) etablie par RichardCARON et Marco PASIndex des Noms

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THE INFLUENCE OF ALEISTER CROWLEYON FERNANDO PESSOA S ESOTERIC WRITINGS

Marco PASI

1 I:t-qTRODUCTION

One of the most intriguing episodes in the history of 20 th Century esotericism is undoubtedly the meeting in Lisbon, September 1930, betweenthe English occultist (and poet) Aleister Crowley (1875-1947) and the Portuguese poet (and occultist) Fernando Pessoa (1888-1935). One of the mostintriguing, indeed, but one might easily add one of the funniest as well. t iswell known how Crowley s stay in Portugal ended. He organized, with theamused help of Pessoa, a fake suicide stunt at the Boca do Inferno, a placeclose to Cascais where high cliffs overhang the ocean. He did this in order tohave some free press publicity in a period of personal difficulties and decline.After a couple of weeks of international concern for his destiny, Crowleyreappeared in Berlin, alive and kicking as ever, to open an exhibition of hispaintings. Many aspects of the relationship between Crowley and Pessoa stillremain unclear. I have already tried to put some of the missing pieces of thepuzzle back in place, especially with the publication of the correspondencebetween the two authors which is preserved at the Warburg Institute l Inthis article, I will leave the biographical details aside, and concentrate on theintellectual aspect of their relationship2. In particular, I will present the firstresults of an investigation on the influence of Crowley on Pessoa s esotericwritings. This analysis will allow me, at the same time, to give a small philological contribution towards the solution of a very complicated problem inPessoan studies: the dating of his posthumous esoteric fragments.

1 See the chapter La Bocca dell Inferno and the related appendix in Marco Pasi, AleisterCrowley e la tentazione della politica Milan 1999, 137-162 and 192-196.

2 For the story of Crowley s trip to Portugal and of Pessoa s collaboration in his fake suicide stunt see, besides my Aleister Crowley cited in the preceding note, see Victor BeUm, 0Misterio da Boca-do-Inftrno: 0 encontro entre 0 poeta Fernando Pessoa e 0 mago Aleister Crow-ley Lisbon 1995. The two main biographers of Crowley and Pessoa have both dedicated acertain number of pages ro the srory: John Symonds, The Beast 666: The Life o Aleister Crow-ley London 1997, 447-461; Joao Gaspar Simoes, Vida e Obra de Fernando Pessoa: Historiaduma Gerarao Lisbon 1991 (first ed. 1950), 519-530.


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694 MARCO PASIParaphrasing one of his most quoted sentences, we might say that Pessoa

was a poet anima ted byesotericism, not an esotericist with poetic faculties3.Yet, for this first survey of the influence of Crowley on Pessoa, I havedecided to limit myself to a discussion of Pessoas esoteric writings, leavingan analysis of this influence in his poems for a further study.

2. PESSOAS ESOTERJC THOUGHT: A SURVEY

Before we proceed to our analysis, it is perhaps useful t offer a briefsummary of Pessoas views on esotericism, certainly less familiar than Crowley's t an English reading public It is not, alas, an easy task, for Pessoanever managed to write a complete and coherent essay on esoteric matters.He was interested in all aspects and currents of esoteric lore, and wrote onalchemy, astrology, magic, Kabbalah, Rosicrucianism, Neo-templarism,masonic symbolism, the Tarot, and so on. However, he didn't leave a complete work on any of these subjects, but just fragments, several of which arestill unpubli shed5. Some of them share common titles such as the Essay onInitiation (written mostly in English), or The w y of the Serpent 0 Caminho da Serpente, mostly in Portuguese), which clearly indicates that Pessoasaw them as part of larger projects, and possibly intended to publish them.Sometimes the fragments are but short reading notes; sometimes, on thecontrary, they are significant and fascinating steps towards the creation of apersonal system of esoteric thought. t is also interesting to note that many

3 Pessoas actual sentence is: I was a poet animated by philosophy, not a philosopher withpoet ic faculties (Fernando Pessoa, Pdginas Intimas e de Auto-Interpreta,iio, Lisbon 1966, 13).4 The main secondary sources on Pessoas esotericism are: Joao Gaspar Simoes, Vida e

Obra de Fernando Pessoa 475-530; Georg Rudolf Lind, A n i c i a ~ a o do Poeta e 0 CaminhoAlquimico', in: Estudos sobre Fernando Pessoa n.p. (Lisbon) 1981,257-304; Dalila Pereira daCosta, 0 Esoterismo de Fernando Pessoa Porto 1987 (first ed. 1971), Yvette Centeno, 0 Pensamento Esotirico de Fernando Pessoa Lisbon 1990; republished as an article: 0 PensamentoEsoterico de Fernando Pessoa, in: Pessoa, Mensagem - Poemas esotiricos: Edi,iio Critica, n.p.1993, 359-395; the introductions by Antonio Quadros to Pessoa, Obra Poitica e em Prosavol. 3, 317-328, and Pessoa, A Procura do Verdade Ocu/ta: Textosfilosoficos e esotiricos, MemMartins n.d. (1986), 11-29; Ana Maria Binet, L isotirisme dons l ceuvre de Fernando Pessoadoet. diss., Universite de Bordeaux III, 1996, 3 vols.; Andre Coyne, 'Regards sur Pessoa -Mort Ie jour de la Saint Andre', in: Nouvelle Ecole, 51 2000),91-116. In his study, 0 Pensamento Ma,onico de Fernando Pessoa Lisbon 1997, Jorge de Matos discusses at length Pessoas view on esotericism and initiation. To this list we may add also the specific section ofarticles related to the subject in: Um sicufo de Pessoa: Encontro internacional do centendrio deFernando Pessoa Lisbon 1990, 195-254 ('Religiao e Esoterismo em Fernando Pessoa). For ageneral bibliography on Pessoa and esotericism, by Luis Filipe B. Teixeira, see Fernando Pessoa, Memagem, 517 530.


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THE INFLUENCE OF MEISTER CROWLEY 695. of them were written in English. Pessoa was actually bilingual, having beenraised and educated in Durban, South Africa, till the age of 17. Englishalways remained the language of his most intimate reflections, as well as thelanguage of many of his sources of his esoteric readings.

The most difficult problem concerning these writings is of a philologicalkind: it concerns the dating of the fragments, which are, in most cases,undated. s can easily be seen, the solution to this problem is essential fora correct understanding of Pessoa's esoteric thought. In fact, how should weinterpret the contradictions which may (and do) appear in different fragments? Are they real contradictions, or are they different moments in thedevelopment of Pessoa's thought? And, if in some cases the explanation isactually an intellectual evolution across the years, how to establish whatcomes before and what comes after? There are of course hints which can begathered from other sources, for instance references in his letters or in whathe published within his lifetime (especially poems). t would be honest,though, to recognise that, as far as a general interpretation of Pessoa's esotericism is concerned, there are as yet no definite and satisfYing answers tothese questions.

Still, it is possible to put together the information we possess and drawthe main lines of Pessoa's views in this field, bearing in mind that newresearch and findings are liable to modifY this picture in the future. Someelements seem to caracterize unmistakably his esoteric thought. Pessoabecame interested in esoteric and occult matters quite early. There is.evidence of this as early as 19066. Later, he was very impressed when heread some classics of 19th Century Anglo-Saxon occultism: firstly Har-grave Jennings' book on the Rosicrucians, and then (around 1915) some

5 The bulk of Pessoa's esoteric fragments has been published in the following books:Yvette K Centeno, Fernando Pessoa: 0 AmoT A Morte A lniciafiio Lisbon 1985, 81-130;Yvette K Centeno, Fernando Pessoa e a Filosofia Hermrftica Lisbon 1985, 27-82; Yvette KCenteno, Fernando Pessoa: Os Trezentos e Outros Ensaios Lisbon 1988, 125-143 (these threebooks contain also several essays on the topic by Centeno ; Fernando Pessoa, Obra Poitica eem Prosa Porto 1986, vol. 3, 329-537; Fernando Pessoa, A Procura da Verdade Oculta 139-232 (these last two, edited and introduced by Antonio Quadros, are actually different editions of the same texts, but for a few exceptions); Fernando Pessoa, Moral Regras de VidaCondifoes de IniciafflO Lisbon 1988; Fernando Pessoa, Rosea Cruz Lisbon 1989 (these lasttwo are both edited by Pedro Teixeira da Mota). As it was obvious, the first fragments to bepublished were the typescript ones, or those whose handwriting did not present great difficulties in deciphering. Now there remain unpublished most of those hand-written esotericfragments which are particularly difficult to read, considering that Pessoa's handwriting cansometimes be almost unreadable. For them, a long, patient work of deciphering will beneeded.

6 Cenreno, Fernando Pessoa: 0 Amor 51-53.


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696 MARCO PASItheosophical works by H.P.Blavatsky and others? At the same time, hegot involved with spiritualism as well, which however he soon abandoned.What seems to have impressed him, in those books as well as in his spiritualistic experiences, was the evidence of a hidden reality, more real thanthe daily and visible one. This leads us to appreciate the most characteristic aspect of Pessoas thought: his strong dualism, which evidently vergeson a sort of idealism. In Pessoa's view, reality is always composed of twoopposite sides. This is reflected on any and all of its levels: the dualityspirit-matter is just a mirror for other dualities, such as imagination-actuality, darkness-light, invisible-visible, unknown-known. The first term ofthese dualities represents for Pessoa the positive side, while the second onerepresents the negative side. In a sort of reversal, what is normally seen asreal and concrete becomes illusory, whereas only what is hidden and invisible can be real . Between these two poles of reality we find symbols thatact like signs: they remind us of the existence of another dimension, whichhides the real side of things, and push us towards it. Furthermore, if thesymbol is a sign towards the hidden side of things, initiation is the path toreach it. As to what exactly initia tion is and how it should work, Pessoaleft more questions than answers. He often makes a distinction betweenthree paths to initiation: mysticism, magic and alchemy (or gnosis), sometimes presenting them as separate and equivalent, sometimes as being theconsecutive steps of a ladder, with alchemy as the most elevated stage ofattainmentS. One element should be emphasised about Pessoas ideas oninitiation: we find an important parallel not just a comparison) betweeninitiation and literary creation. Some passages in his writings give theimpression that Pessoa saw his poetic work as an actual way to attain theaim of initiation. The literary genius - and he often hints at his awareness of being one - is a special kind of initiate, whose attainment is adirect gift of God. In this respect, Pessoa takes the example of Shakespeareas an initiate who didn't need to go through the difficult steps of normalinitiation9 Even heteronymity , the most famous aspect of his literarywork, plays an important part in this synthesis of poetical creativity and

7 The book by Hargrave Jennings was The Rosicrucians: heir Rites andMysteries London1870 (Pessoa owned the 4 h ed. of 1907). Pessoa discovered Blavatsky's theosophy when hewas asked by a publishing house t translate some theosophical books into Portuguese. For alist of these books, see Pessoa, Mensagem 519.

8 The clearest exposition of this tripartition of the path to initiation is contained in thefamous and much quoted letter, dated January 13 h, 1935 (only a few months before hisdeath), to his friend and critic Adolfo Casais Monteiro. See Fernando Pessoa, Corresponden-cia: 1923-1935, Lisbon 1999, 346-347.

9 We will see an example of this in the fourth part of this article.


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THE INFLUENCE OF ALEISTER CROWLEY 697esoteric attainment10. Being all, or rather feeling all in all possible waysseems to be for Pessoa the real path to initiation. This was by no means farfrom Crowley's views, with the difference that, for Crowley, the initiatewas to have experiences in material, daily life as well, whereas for Pessoaeverything happens on an intellectual and imaginative level.

t the time of his discovery of Blavatsky's Theosophy, Pessoa also hadstrong neo-pagan and anti-Christian leanings. These were smoothed overin later years, when he seemed to abandon his paganism and came to consider himself rather as a gnostic Christian , though he always retained avigorous anti-Catholic flairll. He saw ancient gnosticism as one of the mainroots of the Western esoteric tradition (he never was very interested in Eastern doctrines). The way he saw the historical development of this traditionwas not unusual for a post-occultist author. The hidden wisdom of theGnostics had been secretly transmitted through a line including the Templars, the Rosicrucians, and the Freemasons, until our days. t should beemphasized, however, that Pessoa thought the transmission had taken placenot directly through the apparent side of these historical manifestations,but rather through some inne r groups acting inside them. This may be considered a reflection of his dualistic thought. Just as reality is not as it showsitself, but always hides an occult dimension (which is the actual, real one),so the initiatic Orders have always had inner, invisible groups, which werethe repository of real initia tion. Freemasonty, for instance, is only the lowerlevel of more secret Orders, as in a pyramid, and only the Order which isat the top, and is ruled by the Secret Chiefs, holds the occult wisdom in itspurest form. This is an interesting aspect, because it can easily take a conspiracy theory bent. Actually, some of Pessoa's writings seem to pointunequivocally in this direction, but this would lead us far from our presenttopicl We can observe, however, that this mixture of esotericism and conspiracy theory is far from being a peculiar characteristic of Pessoa, and hasbeen a very common phenomenon in the last two centuries, as James Webbhas shown 3.

10 See for instance the interesting fragment published by Teresa Sobral Cunha in Fernando Pessoa, Poemas Completos de Alberto Caeiro Lisbon 1994, 292, where Pessoa definesthe creation of his heteronyms Alberto Caeiro, Alvaro de Campos and Ricardo Reis as anact of intellectual magic, a magnum opus of the impersonal creative power .

Antonio Quadros has acutely distinguished between an earlier pagan stage and a latergnostic stage in Pessoa's intellectual development. See Quadros, 'Prefacio', in: Pessoa,Procura da Verdade Oculta 15-19.

12 We are referring particularly to the fragments published by Yvette Centeno in OsTrezentos.

3 James Webb, The Occult Establishment La Salle 1976.


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698 MARCO PASIFinally, to this ensemble we must add a specifically Portuguese element,

that is a particular kind of national messianism known as Sebastianism.This is a literary and popular tradition belonging to the cultural heritageof Portugal. t had its origin in the historical defeat of the Portuguese kingSebastian in the battle of Al-Ksar el Kebir (1578), during an expeditionagainst the Moors. The whole of the Portuguese army was exterminatedduring the battle, but the body of the king was not found. So a legendtook shape that Sebastian hadn t actually died, and would one day comeback to start a new age of prosperity for Portugal. This new age was identified by certain authors as the Fifth Empire described in the book ofDaniel, which has inspired so many millenarian hopes14 The myth of theFifth Empire, linked to that of Sebastianism, is a recurrent topos of Portuguese literary tradition, and Pessoa has been only one of its most eminent and recent interpreters. In him, however, and especially in his famouspoem Mensagem Message, 1934), the myth gets mixed with other esotericelements which were not part of this tradition before him, like Rosicrucianism or the Arthurian legend. Pessoa sees the return of Sebastian as anevent which will actually take place soon, and will mark the establishmentof a cultural and spiritual (but not political) empire of Portugal in theworld.Let us return now to the specific issue I wish to discuss here. t will not bepossible to analyse thoroughly all the esoteric fragments containing implicitor explicit references to Crowley s works. Of a total of around 270 esotericfragments that have been published, or that I have personally examined in theBiblioteca Nacional at least 40 contain references which can only beexplained, as I will tty to demonstrate, by Pessoa s reading of Crowley s worksand should therefore be considered as the sign of a direct influence15 .

t is of course necessary, first of all, to see what books by Crowley Pessoa had at his disposal. t has not been previously remarked that Pessoaordered a book by Crowley as early as 1917. t was 111 Crowley s personaldictionary of occult correspondences16 Mainly based on the Golden Dawnsystem and teachings, it had been published a few years before17 However,

14 Dan., 2, 44.15 I intend to publish in a further study a complete list of these fragments.16 Pessoa ordered the book through the London bookseller Frank Hollings. His letter toHollings, dated March 6 1, 1917, has been published in Fernando Pessoa, Correspondencia:

1905-1922 Lisbon 1999 245.17 [Aieister Ctowley], 777 el Prolegomena Symbolica d Systemam Sceptico-Mysticae Viae

Explicandae, Fundamentum Hieroglyphicum Sanctissimorum Scientiae Summae, London andFelling-on-Tyne, 1909.


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THE INFLUENCE OF ALEISTER CROWLEY 699it is not certain that Pessoa knew at that time who the author of the bookwas, because Crowley had publishedit anonymously. Afterwards Pessoadoes not seem to have bought any other book by Crowley until November1929, when he ordered the first two volumes of Crowley's autobiography,The Conftssions18 Subsequently, but it is not known when exactly, Pessoaordered or was given by Crowley two copies of Magick in Theory nd Prac-tice (1929-1930), and a copy of a collection of short stories, The Stratagem(1929)19. According to one of the catalogues of Pessoa's library, The Confts-sions and one of the copies of Magick in Theory nd Practice show someunderlinings and annotations in Pessoa's hand20. This is not surprising: ofthe books by Crowley owned by Pessoa, these are the most interesting ones,because they present as clearly as possible Crowley's views on magic andother occult matters. As far as an influence of Crowley on Pessoa is concerned, this is where we should look for its main source.

We can roughly divide the references to ideas or notions taken by Pessoafrom Crowley's works into three different groups: (1) Initiatic Orders andgrades modelled on the system of Crowley's A:.A:.; (2) The notion of a magical relationship with ones own Guardian Angel; (3) The doctrine ofThelema.

18 Aleister Crowley, The Confessio11S ofAleister Crowley, 2 vv., London 1929. Only thesefirst two volumes, of the projected six, were published during Crowley's life. The six volumes were finally published together for the first time in 1969. The second volume endsimmediately before the revelation of the Book of he Law in Caito in 1904, which Crowleyconsidered as the climax of his autohagiography . It contains however the story of Crowley' involvement with the Golden Dawn (1898-1900) and the immediate consequences. Asit is well known, the letter with which Pessoa ordered of the Confessions was the startingpoint of his personal relationship with Crowley, which led one year later t the latter's tripto Portugal.

19 Aleister Crowley, Magick in Theory nd Practice, Paris n.d. I 929-1930); The Stratagemand Other Stories, London n.d. I 929). We have consulted the following catalogues of Pessoa'slibrary: 'Fernando Pessoa's Library', appendix A of Jaime Herculano da Silva, Fernando Pessoaand the English Romantic Tradition Ph.D. diss., Harvard University, 1980, unnumbered pages(the most complete one); and 'Biblioteca de Fernando Pessoa: Lista bibliografica', inTabacaria, 0 (Febr. 1996), 63-119 (a list of the books actually preserved at the museum ofPessoa in Lisbon, the Casa Fernando Pessoa,). A cross consul ration of the two is necessary,since each one presents some gaps filled by the other. It is unclear why Pessoa had two copiesof Magick in Theory and Practice, or how he obtained them. Probably Crowley brought onecopy to Portugal (possibly with the copy of The Stratagem as a gift for Pessoa, while the latter had already ordered the other one on his own before. According to da Silva's catalogue,one copy is hardbound, while the other is divided into four wrappered installments. Bothtypes were then circulating, the hardbound version being reserved to subscribers. All copieshad been printed in Paris in 1929, but were bound only in 1930 in England and subsequently put on sale. Therefore Pessoa could not have had his two copies before that year. Theparticularly complicated editorial story of this book has been admirably reconstructed byTimothy d'Arch Smith in his The Books of he Beast, n.p. 1987 20-22.

20 See da Silva, 'Fernando Pessoa's Library', s. v. Aleister Crowley.


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700 MARCO PASI3. ORDERS AND GRADES

In several esoteric fragments Pessoa describes what is in his opinion, thegeneral structure of initiatic Orders. We find the most clear exposition ofthis in the following text:

There are, in the Lesser Orders [ordens menoresj an Outer and an Inner Order.In the first one are Neophytes and Zelatores, in the second one Practici andPhilosophi. The first one includes Apprentices and Fellows as simple initiates(Neophytes), and Masters (Zelatores); the second one includes those who havereached the Higher Grades [Altos Graus] and those who have reached theGrades of Passage [Graus de Passagem] - Practici and Philosophi respectively.In the Greater Orders [ordens maiores] there are an Inner and an Outer Orderas well. The Outer Order consists of an organisation which goes from the firstto the tenth grade, exactly as it is indicated. The Inner Order, since we aredealing here with Higher Orders [altas ordensl (and the Inner Order is the realone, the Outer Order being only apparent), begins with the Adeptus Minor,who is a Neophyte of the Inner Order. t continues with the Adeptus Major,who is a Zelator of the Inner Order; with the Adeptus Exemptus, who is aPracticus of the Inner Order in the outside and a Philosophus of the InnerOrder in the inside. The Magister Templi of the Outer Order is.an AdeptusMinor of the Inner Order; the Magus of the Outer Order is an Adeptus Majorof the Inner Order; the Ipsissimus of the Outer Order is an Adeptus Exemptus of the Inner Order in the outside and a Magister Templi in the inside. Theexplanation of all Orders and of all kinds of Orders is contained in these interpretative dispositions21. [esp. 54-91]

This fragment would deserve a long, elaborate discussion, which unfortu-nately I cannot fully develop here. I shall rather dwell upon a particularaspect. Pessoa is clearly trying to systematise his notions about the structure of initiatic Orders. We have seen that, according to him, the secretof initiation is preserved through a pyramidal system of Orders. In thisfragment we find the description of two levels (Lesser Orders and GreaterOrders), each divided into two sub-levels Outer and Inner Order). As ina pyramid, levels become smaller the closer they are to the top, where thesecret of real initiat ion is supposedly preserved. At the lowest level we findexoteric institutions, such as Craft Freemasonry and the Catholic

Church; and only above them real esoteric Order s, on which they ultimately depend.

21 Centeno, Fernando Pessoa e a Filosofia Hermitica 41. When possible I will always indicate in square brackets, alter the quotation, the press-mark of the original document in theEsp6lio Fernando Pessoa preserved at the Biblioteca Nacional, Lisbon. If the text has beenpublished, I will indicate in note the relevant source. The translation from Portuguese isalways mine.


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THE INFLUENCE OF ALEISTER CROWLEY 701What is interesting here to notice, is that all levels are structured accord

ing to a particular system of grades, the source of which does not seem difficult to recognise. Those critics who have already discussed this aspect havereferred to the Golden Dawn system, but this is incorrect22 On this aspectthe real source for Pessoa is none other than Aleister Crowley's Order: theA:.A:., commonly known as ''Astrum Argentinurn . We have two kinds ofevidence to support this thesis: the structure itself, as it is described by Pessoa, and the problem of the sources.

As it is well known, Crowley's Order, founded in 1907, was stronglyinspired by the system (teachings, rituals, grades) of the Golden Dawn.Crowley had actually been a member of the latter Order between 1898 and1900, when a schism between different factions had put an end to itsgolden age. The structures of the Golden Dawn and the A:.A:. were basically the same. For instance, they were both divided into three differentOrders: a First (or Outer , a Second (or Inner , and a Third Order (thisseems adopted, with some slight variations, by Pessoa in his fragment).However, there were some differences as well, and particularly in the gradestructure. A comparative table will be useful in showing this aspect:

GOLDEN DAWN GRADES

First Order0 = 00 Neophyte10 = 10 0 Zelator2 = 9D Theoricus30 = 80 Practicus4 = 7 PhilosophusPortal GradeSecond Order5 = 6 Adeptus Minor6 = 50 Adeptus Majorr = 40 Adeptus ExemptusBabe of the AbyssThird Order8 = 3 Magister Templi9 = 2D Magus10 = 1Ipsissimus

A:.A:. GRADESFirst Order

0 = 00 Probationer1= 100 Neophyte2 = 9 Zelator3 = 8 Practicus4 = 70 PhilosophusDominus LiminisSecond Order5 = 60 Adeptus Minor6 = 50 Adeptus Majorr = 40 Adeptus ExemptusThird Order8 = 3D Magister Templi9 = 20 Magus10 = 1Ipsissimus

22 See Yvette Centeno, 0 Pensamento Esoterico 374-375; Angel Crespo, La vita pluraledi Fernando Pessoa Rome 1997 (Spanish or. ed.: 1988),290-299; Andre Coyne, Portugal eum Ente - De lEtre du Portugal Fribourg-Lisbon 1999, 55-56; Andre Coyne, 'Regardssur Pessoa , 109; Jorge de Matos, 0 Fensamento Mafonico de Fernando Fessoa Lisbon 1997,106.


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702 MARCO PASIt is easy to see the differences between the two systems. Crowley sup

pressed the grade of Theoricus, and moved downwards (or upwards,depending on the point of view) the grades of Neophyte and Zelator to fillthe gap, adding a new preliminary grade of Probationer23 Now, if we compare these two systems with the one expounded by Pessoa in his fragment,it becomes clear that it is the A:.A:. that he had in mind when he waswriting, not the Golden Dawn. In his Lesser Orders, we have no Theoricusgrade, but we have all the four grades of the A:.A:. (minus the Probationer one, which is just preliminary). This pattern recurs in all the numerous fragments in which Pessoa describes the structure of initiatic Orders,and in none of them do we find a reference to the Theoricus grade. Theonly plausible explanation for this is that nowhere in the sources availableto him, with a single exception that will be discussed below, could Pessoahave found information on the Golden Dawn system of grades. What hehad at his disposal was just Crowley's personal development of it.

The other argument to support our thesis concerns the sources availableto Pessoa. Where could he have found precise information on the GoldenDawn? From the catalogues of his library, we learn that he owned somebooks by other ex-members of the Order, besides Crowley. In particular hehad A Selection from the Poetry ofWB Yeats (1913); the translation of S.L.MacGregor Mathers of Knorr von Rosenroth's Kabbala Denudata (in thefourth edition of 1926); and, finally, three books by Arthur Edward Waite:The Brotherhood of the Rosy Cross (1924), Emblematic Freemasonry 1925),and The Holy Grail (933)24. We can immediately set aside the collection ofpoems by Yeats and the last two books by Waite, where no references to theGolden Dawn are made25 The other two books deserve a closer look.

23 Crowley also renamed to the unnumbered subgrade between the First and the SecondOrder (the Portal Grade became the Dominus Liminis) and created another subgradebetween the Second and the Third Order (the Babe of the Abyss). These subgrades are mentioned by Pessoa in some of his fragments, see for instance esp. 54-34 (Pessoa, Rosea Cruz,195), or esp. 54-41 (Pessoa, Rosea Cruz 197). This is of course another clue that his modelwas the A:.A. . rather than the Golden Dawn.

24 William Butler Yeats, A Selection foom the Poetry ofWB Yeats Leipzig 1913; SamuelLiddell MacGregor Mathers (ed.), The Kabbalah Unveiled London 1926 (first ed.: 1887);Arthur Edward Waite, The Brotherhood of he Rosy Cross: Being Records of he House of he HolySpirit in Its Inward and Outward History London 1924; Waite, Emblematic Freemasonry Andthe Evolution of Its Deeper Issues London 1925; and Waite, The Holy Grail: Its Legend andSymbolism London 1933. We do not know when Pessoa came into possession of mese books.25 Pessoa certainly knew that Yeats had been a member of the Golden Dawn and playedan important role in the schism of 1900, through Crowley's bitter comments on him in hisConfessions we quote from the complete edition of six volumes in one, London 1989), 165-166, and 177.


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THE INFLUENCE OF MEISTER CROWLEY 703Waite s book on the Rosy Cross dedicates a few pages to the Golden Dawn(mentioned explicitly by its name), questioning its origin as told in its official historf6 Interestingly, Waite also gives some indications about thegrades, and this makes his book the exception referred to above. However,he only gives the grades of the First Order, from Zelator to Philosoph us,leaving the rest of the hierarchy in the shadow. Therefore, the only partmentioned by Waite was exactly the one modified by Crowley in his system, and which appears as such in Pessoa s fragments27. As to Mathersbook, the 1926 edition of the Kabbalah Unveiled owned by Pessoa was supplemented by a preface by his wife Moina Mathers, nee Bergson (1865-1928)28. Her husband had died in 1918, and on that occasion she wantedto pay homage to his memory. She therefore gives some veiled informationon his life and on the Golden Dawn (without disclosing its name), understandably emphasising Mathers role in the history of the Order and understating W W Westcott s29. She gives 1888 as year of foundation of theOrder, a detail which may have intrigued Pessoa (born the same year), butmakes no references to its grades or structure.

If we put these two sources aside, we see that Pessoa had only one important source of information on the Golden Dawn: the first two volumes ofCrowley s Conftssions (1929). In the first volume, Crowley told his own version of the story of the Order. It mainly embraced, but for an excursus onits origins and on the problem of the ciphered manuscript, th; period of hismembership, that is between his first initiation in 1898 and the schism of19003 As to the A: A: structure, on the contrary, Pessoa s source musthave been another one. In fact, the narrative of the second volume of theConftssions finishes at 1904, that is before the section where Crowleydescribes the foundation (1907) and the development of his A: A: 31Actually, Pessoa could have obtained a clear idea of the structure and theaims of the A: A: only from one of the appendixes of Magick in Theory

26 Arthur Edward Waite, The Brotherhood o he Rosy Cross, London 1924, 580-584.27 Pessoa did, however, read Waite s book carefully. His copy presents many underlinings

and a few observations in his hand (see da Silva, Fernando Pessoa, appendix A, s.v. Waite ).Moreover, at least two esoteric fragments are actually reading notes from Waite s book: esp.53A-81 (Pessoa, Rosea Cruz 178-179), and esp. 54A-57 (Pessoa, Rosea Cruz 210).

28 S.L. MacGregor Mathers, The Kabbalah Unveiled, London 1926. According to daSilva s catalogue Fernando Pessoa, appendix A, s v Zohar ), Pessoa s copy contains manyunderlinings and annotations in his hand.

29 William Wynn Westcott (1848-1925) had been the cofounder of the Golden Dawnand for some years, before the schism of 1900, a close associate of Mathers.30 Crowley, The Confessions, 175-197.31 The section is in the fourth volume: Crowley, The Confessions, 561 ff


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704 MARCO PASIand ractice (1929-1930): One Star in Sight'32. There Crowley expounded,as simply as possible, not only the structure of the grades of his own Order,but also the meaning of each grade, starting from the Adeptus Minor, withthe requirements for the advancement from one to the other.

In conclusion, only since 1929-1930 was Pessoa able to have a relativelyclear idea of the history of the Golden Dawn and of the structure of theA:.A: . That he was aware that the two Orders were not the same thing isillustrated in certain passages. For instance, in an unpublished fragment hespeaks of the two as distinct Orders, and adds that he has found information on the A:.A:. in the treatise Magick of the Master Therion, who, Ibelieve, founded, or gave shape to, [it],,33.

A grade structure based on the A:.A:. appears in several other fragments . Of the three themes discussed here, it is by far the most importantquantitatively. In some cases, Pessoa uses a contracted form of the structure,which has no equivalent in Crowley's writings, reducing the three Orders tothree simple grades:

Whatever the number of grades, outward or inward, in the scale of ascenttowards Truth, they may be considered as three - Neophyte, Adept and Master. In reality the grades are ten - four under Neophyte, three under Adeptand three so to speak) under Master. There are really five under Neophyte,but the first grade is not numbered35 . [esp. 54B-17J

As a consequence of this simplification, the complicated structure discussedabove becomes much handier, and it is legitimate to wonder whether Pessoadid not have in his mind the three degrees of Craft Freemasonry as a model.The name of the third grade in his simplified system, Master - which isprobably an abbreviation for Magister Templi , but might also be reminiscent of the Master degree in the Craft - could make such a supposition pertinent. Be that as it may, this is an interesting aspect, because it shows, ifneed be, that Pessoa did not accept his sources passively, but was actuallyengaged in a work of creative interpretation and original elaboration36

32 Crowley, Magick in Theory nd Practice, 228-244.33 Esp. 53-74. See also esp. 53B-36: We can say tha t he is a Rosicrucian who belongs tothe Rosicrucian Order, or, also, to some of the Orders deriving from it, or which pretend todo so - the G:.D:., the A:.A:., and other ones (Pessoa, Rosea Cruz, 91 .34 See for instance esp. 53B-25 (Pessoa, Rosea Cruz, 224); esp. 54-33 (Pessoa, Rosea Cruz,198); esp. 54-34 (Pessoa, Rosea Cruz, 194); esp. 54-39 (Pessoa, Rosea Cruz, 199); esp. 54-41(Pessoa, Moral, 143 .35 Centeno, Fernando essoa e a Filosofia Hermetica, 81. The original is in English.36 Another very interesting example of this creative interpretation is offered by some fragments where Pessoa applies the grade structure of the A:.A:. to persons or events which arenot found in Crowley's books. In a fragment, for instance, he speaks of Antonio Vieira


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THE INFLUEN E OF ALEISTER CROWLEY 7054. THE GUARDIAN NGEL

The notion of the knowledge and conversation of the Holy GuardianAngel is another element appearing in Pessoa's fragments whose sourcemay be traced t Crowley's writings. As it is well known, the origin of thisidea, which is absolutely central t the understanding of Crowley's system, isin a grimoire preserved as a manuscript (in French) at the Bibliotheque del'Arsenal in Paris. It was published for the first time in an English translation by S.L. MacGregor Mathers as The Sacred Book o Magic o Abra-Melinthe Magl,;37. The manuscript is of uncertain provenance and period, thoughit purports to be the work of an Abraham the Jew, who would have livedbetween the fourteenth and the fifteenth century. Abraham claims that hisbook is based on the teachings he has received from a magician namedAbra-Melin (or Abramelin), whence the title of the book. Contrarily towhat has been sometimes assumed, the instructions contained in this bookwere never part of the curriculum, or of the official teachings, of theGolden Dawn. Presumably the members of the Order were usuallyinformed of the publications made by its chief, and possibly the purchase ofthese books was encouraged, but if this were so, there is no evidence that ithappened in any official way. This explains why, for instance, we have norecords of any other member of the Golden Dawn, except Crowley,attempting to put into practice the instructions delivere9. in this book. Thisis understandable: these instructions were particularly long, complicated

(1608-1697), one of the prophets of Sebastianism, as an Adeptus Minor (esp. 53B-20; Pes-soa, Rosea Cruz, 226). Elsewhere he tells how Jacques de Molay, last Grand Master of theOrder of the Temple, and King Sebastian himself were tOO rapidly raised t the grade ofMagus, owing to their violent death (esp. 54-93; Centeno, Femando Pessoa e a Filosofia Her-metica, 43). This had, according to Pessoa, fateful consequences for the history of Europe. Inanother fragment he writes of Jesus Christ as an Ipsissimus, an attribution to which Crowleywould have probably objected (esp. 53B-78; Pessoa, Rosea Cruz, 206 .37 Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers (ed.), The Book o he Sacred Magic o Abra-Melin

the Mage, London 1898. It is interesting to note that in a fragment Pessoa refers to Mathersand Abra-Melin: There is scarcely a competent magician who does not fall prey to thingswhich reveal the weakness of the will. The terrible end of MacGregor Mathers, in soddendtunkenness, is a poignant case. He might perhaps control Abremalin's sic] devils, but hecould not control his own esp. 54A-62; Centeno, Femando Pessoa e a Filosofia Hermetica, 77;the original is in English). His source for this story is certainly Crowley, who, after his disappointment with the Golden Dawn, liked to put Mathers in a bad light. There are two passagesin the Confessions (176 and 337) and one in Magick in Theory and Practice (194) referring toMathers' personal problems in relation to Abra-Melin, but not particularly to Mathers' drunkenness. It is possible that Crowley told Pessoa this detail when they met in 1930. On Mathers,see Irhell Colquhoun, Sword o Wisdom: MacGregor Mathers and the Golden Dawn, London1975 (for Crowley's treatment of Mathers in his writings, see 108-114).


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706 MARCO PASIand purportedly dangerous to accomplish. Their aim is defined in the bookas the Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel . In thegrimoire this was intended as the establishing of a personal contact withthe particular spiritual entity who, according to a well known Judaeo-Christian tradition, is supposed to preside over us and protect us from harm andevil. This would have entitled the magician to have other lesser spiritualentities at his command, and consequently to help his neighbour with thepowers thereby acquired. The idea was adopted by Crowley, who integratedit into his personal doctrine as one of its central tenets. Even if he laterchanged his mind, he identified at first the Holy Guardian Angel with thenotion of the Higher Self, or Higher Genius, which was current in theGolden Dawn . In fact, in some of its official papers the Great Work ,that is the spiritual attainment of the initiate, was indicated as the Unionwith the Higher Self 39. In this sense, the Holy Guardian Angel was not anobjective, detached entity, as he presumably had been in the original grimoire, but acquired a sort of psychological existence. Crowley had tried forthe first time to put into practice the instructions of the grimoire in thespring of 1900, immediately before the schism of the Golden Dawn. Thisevent, and his personal involvement in it, obliged him to abandon hisattempt. Subsequently he claimed that he had attained his goal in 1906,during a trip through the south of China40 . Pessoa could only know of thefirst, unsuccessful attempt, which is described in the first volume of theConfessions while the second one, being in the third volume, was not available to him.

Crowley prescribed the attainment of the Knowledge and Conversationof the Holy Guardian Angel as the main task of the Adeptus Minor in hisA. ,A. . There are many references to this aspect in Magick in Theory andPractice especially in One Star in Sight'. It seems evident that Pessoa hadread these passages carefully. In a long fragment, for instance, he describesthe different kinds of intellectual attitude required of the initiate in each ofthe three Orders. He attributes abstract intelligence to the First Order; analogic intelligence, or intuition, to the Second Order; and complete intelligence, where the first two kinds mix together, to the Third Order. When

38 Later he started to see Aiwass, the entity who dictated the Book of he Law and whomhe always considered as wholly independent from his conscious or unconscious self, as hisHoly Guardian Angel. This identification was of course contradicrory ro the earlier one concerning the Higher Self or Genius. On this aspect, see Marco Pasi, La notion de magie chezAleister Crowley (1875-1947), memoire de D.E.A., Ecole pratique des Hautes Etudes (Paris,Sorbonne), 1995,51-53.

39 Pasi, a notion e magie 43-45.40 Crowley, The Confessions 517 ff


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THE INFLUENCE OF ALEISTER CROWLEY 707the initiate attains the first grade of the Second Order, and becomes anAdeptus Minor, he must develop his intuition. Intuition, however, is an

angelic faculty , which can exist only when it is given from above, andcannot be obtained simply through the human qualities of the mind .This is why, Pessoa explains,

The opening of the personality t intuition, through the abdication of personal intelligence, is rendered in the occult language by the attainment of theKnowledge and Conversation of the Guardian Angel, an expression which,even though it is symbolic, is not entirely s041. [esp. 54-41]

t must be noted that this theory of the different kinds of intelligence, andits application to the relationship with the Guardian Angel, is an originaldevelopment by Pessoa, since it does not appear in Crowley's writings. tappears, in a slightly different form, in other fragments as well. Forinstance, Pessoa elsewhere applies the relationship with the Guardian Angelto the understanding of symbols. There -are five qualities necessary to interpret symbols correctly. Four of them have a simple name and are easy todescribe: sympathy, intuition, intelligence, and comprehension. The fifth,on the contrary, is more indefinable:

Perhaps I shall say, speaking to some that it is grace, speaking to others that itis the hand of the Unknown Superior, speaking to others still that it is theKnowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel, meaning each ofthese things, which are the same, in the way they are understood by those whouse them, in speech or writing .

Here again we find this notion related to a quality of understanding thatneeds the help of a transcendent entity to manifest itself.

In some cases, Pessoa identifies initiation with literary genius, and bothwith the Knowledge and Conversation of the Guardian Angel. Hisfavourite example of artist-initiate is Shakespeare, as in the following fragment:

The man of genius is a left-hand initiate. Shakespeare. He is an initiate whofeels, but does not know his initiation. Initiation is admission to the conver-

41 Pessoa, Rosea Cruz 197.42 The fragment has been considered by Maria Aliete Galhoz as a posthumous preface to

the poem Mensagem Message) and has been published as such in her collection of Pessoa spoetical works (Fernando Pessoa, Obra Poetica, Rio de Janeito 1960, 69). However, nothingin the text induces one to think that Pessoa wrote it with this intention, and undoubtedlythat is why it has not been inserted (or even mentioned) in the recent critical edition of Men-sagem, which we have already quoted. I have not been able to locate the fragment in theEsp6lio, and consequently cannot give its press-mark.


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708 M RCO PASIsation of the Angels. Some hear others see and hear. The first are on the left,the others are on the right43 [esp. 54B-20]

As we have seen, Crowley put the notion of the Guardian Angel in relationwith the Higher Self of the Golden Dawn. n Pessoa's fragments there aretraces of this connection as well. In a very interesting passage he discussesthe traditional division of the human being into three different elements:body, soul, and spirit. The soul is also called Lower Self , whereas thespirit is referred to as Spirit of the Soul or Higher Self . n Pessoa theselevels do not seem to be ontological, as they are usually understood, butrather epistemological. He explains that when man is in contact with hisHigher Self he attains the highest level of consciousness: he becomes aware,for instance, of his previous incarnations. Then he adds:

The formula Holy Guardian Angel corresponds to the H[igherl S[elf], and itexpresses the truth. The Spirit of our Soul, being our substance, is neverthelessdistinct from us in this world and is someone else. The formula H[oly]G[uardian] A[ngel] is therefore right [esp. 54-83]

~ o b a b l y Pessoa, just like Crowley, saw a latent dialectic between theGuardian Angel as an objective, detached entity, and as a higher dimensionof the magician's self This is perhaps what he meant when he wrote, in apassage already quoted above, that the Knowledge and Conversation of theGuardian Angel is an expression which, even though it is symbolic, is notentirely so .

5. THE DOCTRINE OF THELEMThis element appears only in a few fragments. It should be remarked

that it seems unlikely that Pessoa ever read the text upon which thedoctrine ofThelema is based, the Book of he Lau/ 5. Consequently, everything Pessoa knew about it was what he had read in Magick in Theory andPractice, and possibly what Crowley himself told him during his stay inPortugal.

The fragment which presents itself most explicitly as a reflection onThelema is the following:

43 Pessoa, osea Cruz, 227. The original is in English.44 Pessoa, osea Cruz, 172. The original is in English.45 There are several editions of this text. For a recent one, see Aleister Crowley, Magick:

Liber ABA Book Four - Parts I-IV, York Beach 1994 303-318.


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THE INFLUENCE OF ALEISTER CROWLEY 709There is apparently something degrading in such a formula as Do what thouwilt shall be the whole of the Law , but it so happens that this formula can beunderstood in many senses, the thing being to have the right one. As inMasonry, there are many understandings of the Order and its Symbols, so inthis, and all the more in this because it stands higher and has therefore morespace below it for the arbitrariness of understandings.In immediate appearance, the formula is a simple call to licence in all ways.But if it be understood that Will means the soul's true Will, the whole ischanged, for the soul cannot rightly desire that which is its own bondage, aslicence is.The formula, in its essence is, Find out what you are; Find out what you arewants [sic] Do what you want as such as you are46 [esp. 54A-83]

t is interesting to note here that Pessoa's interpretation of the fundamentaltenet of Thelema is very close to Crowley's one47 The English occultistrepeatedly insisted that the doctrine of Thelema has nothing to do withindiscriminate licence, and that what he calls Will must not be confusedwith desires or fancies. He explained that Do what thou wilt is an invitation to look for one's own True Will , that is one's own intimate vocation,or the individual destiny which corresponds to one's own specific place inthe universe as an individual48 . Pessoa emphasizes, just as Crowley so oftendoes, that the sentence on which Thelema is founded has a deeper mean-ing, which might not be evident at first sight. Pessoa's source for his reflections on Thelema and True Will is certainly Magick in Theory and Practice.In fact, in the first two volumes of The Confessions owned by Pessoa, thereare no discussions of the doctrine ofThelema. t is only in the third volume,then unpublished, that the issue is discussed at length. In Magick in Theoryand Practice on the contrary, there are several passages where the notion ofTrue Will is referred to and explained, and particularly in the introduction,where Crowley uses it to expound his general theory of magic49

Pessoa tries, in another fragment, to further develop his meditations onTrue Will:

Therefore the Law is: 1) to discover what we are, in order to know what weintimately and truly want, independently from what we suppose that we want,or that we judge that we should want; (2) to conform all our thoughts, emo-

46 Pessoa, Moral 129. The original is in English. We have quoted from the original preserved in the Esp6lio, as da Mota's transcription presents here a few mistakes.47 Crowley expounded his doctrine of Thelema in various places. The most importantones on this subject may be considered his commentaries on the Book o he Law edited byIsrael Regardie, The Law is for All Phoenix 1993; and the section dedicated t the revelation

of the book and to an exposition ofThelema in the Con issions 393-402.48 For an explanation of this cardinal aspect ofThelema, see Crowley, The Law is for All 73.49 Crowley, Magick xii-xxii. .


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710 MARCO PASIdons, and impulses to our intimate and true will, excluding all other thoughts,emotions, and impulses, pleasant as they may be, or useful as they may seem,because they are not ours, but only pleasant, and sometimes useful; (3) havingdone this, to refuse systematically all outer action which doesn't serve the aimsof our true will, refusing to yield to the requests of the so-called duty, to thecalls of humanity, and to the fears of ridicule and of the insults.

In another fragment, unfortunately left unfinished, Pessoa remarks thatsome (alguns) have maintained that the doctrine of Do what thou wilt

must be applied to all levels, or, rather, all kinds of living beings. But this,Pessoa claims, is incorrect, because its application presupposes the individual discovery ofTrue Will, and this may be attained only by a superior man(hom em superior . Animals, which follow only their instincts, and ordinarymen, who are still at a childish stage, cannot be concerned by this rule oflife 50. Arguably this opinion is, again, not far from that of Crowley, butPessoa's reference to some who would not agree and would have a mistaken vision of Thelema is intriguing and somewhat mysterious. He couldnot have been thinking of anyone else but Crowley, because no one else waswriting on Thelema at that time, at least not in the sources available to Pessoa. Therefore we must think that Pessoa was just trying to keep a criticalattitude in his reading of Crowley's writings, though the ground of his criticisms does not always seem clear. But here again it must be emphasizedthat we are dealing with fragments, unedited by their author and publishedonly posthumously.

6. CONCLUSIONSIn this article we have tried to determine the origin of certain notions

that appear in a significant number of Pessoa's esoteric fragments: Thisidentification, which would be already interesting in itself, allows us also todetermine precisely a terminus a quo for the dating of all the fragmentswhich contain themes or references of the same nature, the origin of whichcan be traced in Crowley's writings. In fact, it should be clear now that

50 Pessoa, Moral, 130 (esp. 54A-30. 'Rule of Life' is the title of the fragment. There areother fragments under this or similar tides, in Portuguese or in English (,Notas para umaRegra de Vida, 'Regras Morais'): see Pessoa, Moral, 126-131. It may be simply a coincidence,but Crowley, in a passage of 'One Star in Sight'. defines the duties of the members of theA:.A.'. concerning Thelema as their Rule of Life : [All members of the A:.A:.] mustaccept The Book o he Law as the Word and the Letter of Truth, and the sale Rule o Life(Crowley. Magick in Theory and Practice 240; my emphasis).


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TH INFLUENCE OF ALEISTER CROWLEY 7

these themes and references were taken by Pessoa either from the first twovolumes of Crowley s Confessions or from his Magick in Theory nd Practice.On the other hand, as I have already remarked, we know that Pessoaobtained the available volumes of the first book at the end of 1929, and didnot have access to the second one before 1930. This means that all thesefragments date at least from 1929-1930, and belong consequently to thelast five years of Pessoa s life. This might prove to be an important acquisition, because these fragments, now possessing a reliable chronological landmark, might be compared with other fragments, whose date of compositionis still unknown.

As to Crowley s influence on Pessoa s esoteric fragments, though this article does not pretend to be more than a preliminary survey, it cannot bedenied that Pessoa took Crowley s writings and ideas quite seriously. Hemay have had ambivalent ideas about him personally, but it seems certainthat Crowley s doctrines strongly appealed to him. As we have seen, thisgoes so far that it would be impossible to understand some passages of hisesoteric writings without the background of Crowley s.

Documents

M. Pasi_Influence of Crowley on Pessoa