Shaking Off Imposters

When would-Be Magicians Skirt the Bill

Aleister Crowley haunted Cafe Royal at 68 Regent Street so often that he invited Epicures to taste his “invented dishes” served there. This Piccadilly Circus restaurant hosted the crème de la crème, including Oscar Wilde, Max Beerbohm, Beardsley and others, and Crowley’s signature dishes. One such dish was “Crowley Mixed Grill,” advertised in Crowley’s occult journal, The Equinox.

The Café Royal, William Orpen (Irish, 1878–1931)

The stories of Café Royal that have intrigued me concern the Golden Dawn magicians who would dine and socialize there, discussing magic, good and evil.

Café Royal, started in 1865, at one time stored the world’s greatest wine cellar

Max Beerbohm wrote of a fictional louche magician, Enoch Soames, who when pressed if he was a devil-worshipper answered, “It’s not exactly worship…it’s more a matter of trusting and encouraging.”

The non-fictional stories of Aleister at Café Royal have less to do with magic and more to do with his tendency to skip out on the bill, the ultimate disappearing act. Aleister would suddenly leave a meal, only to be seen on Regent Street, hailing a cab. While dining at the restaurant he was known to wear a conical hat with stars on it, according Phil Baker in his book, City of the Beast, The London of Aleister Crowley. He would go from table to table discussing his performance of magical Abramelin rituals. Once when Aleister was in the middle of this ritual, a non-regular to the restaurant asked a waiter what was going on. The waiter was reputed to answer, “That’s just Mr. Crowley being invisible.”

Reading of Mr. Crowley for decades, I’ve come across a lot of books discussing his faults, follies and accomplishments. There’s Aleister in America, Aleister in Paris and Aleister in London.

Alesiter Crowley infamous in cities around the world

The last Occulture Conference I attended in Berlin had quite a few panels on Aleister Crowley and his life. This adulation left me longing for coverage of the women of the occult. The objectives and practices of the women of the Golden Dawn are more appealing to me. Florence Farr, Annie Horniman, Dion Fortune, Moina Mathers -these are just a few of the women of the Golden Dawn who have been and continue to be overlooked.

'Witch flying over Florence, Italy' -- Edward Robert Hughes (1902)

The depictions of women practicing magic usually include nudity, with a flying winged horse, a bat, broom or cauldron. The wantonness of women as a sexual conduit during magical rituals comes from a world exploitation, dominance and misunderstanding of women’s ability to channel the other worldly.

The evil sorcerer is also a stereotype passed down through the ages. The poem by W.B. Yeats, The Second Coming, depicts the “Beast”, the “Anti-Christ” which some say was inspired by Aleister.

Here is The Second Coming:

Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.

Surely some revelation is at hand;
Surely the Second Coming is at hand.
The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out
When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi
Troubles my sight: somewhere in sands of the desert
A shape with lion body and the head of a man,
A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,
Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it
Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds.
The darkness drops again; but now I know
That twenty centuries of stony sleep
Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?

Current events have brought to mind this poem as rough beasts take focus in our daily life in the politica arena. But I feel things are slowly changing. Even the “Manhattanhenge Sunset” tonight, when the grid of Manhattan lines up on the east to west streets, feels as though profound change is on the way.

Mahattanhenge on the Upper West Side in July

To see people stop in the middle of an intersection and quickly try to take a photo f the red light pouring over the pavements and buildings for just a few moments as the sun sets creates a temporary feeling of community and sharing in a pagan moment of sun worship. The Sun is Setting! The world tints red! Tomorrow we’ll start this trip around the sun all over again.

As I continue to prepare my presentation on Pamela Colman Smith for the October UK, I am relishing my research into Pamela’s world of magic. In her guest book, there are many illustrations that her guests drew during her soiree evenings. One of my favorite, is a drawing, I think by Alphone Cole who did her portrait, of her infamous cocktail: opal hush. I love the red in this drawing, it reminds me of Manhattanhenge tints.

Page from Pamela Colman Smith’s Guest Sign-In booklet

In this drawing, “The Smart Boy” is bringing a ladder to dive into the Opal Hush, made of wine, seltzer, and possibly lemonade and sugar. This was the drink of choice that Pamela would serve during her Bohemian Nights. Some pronounced it undrinkable or drinkable only after quite a few glasses.

I leave a toast to you made of Opal Hushness. May we find new ways and days and that the company of artists, magicians, authors and winged horses figure in your future.

Thank you for supporting my work! You can find all three books about Pamela Colman Smith that I have written at the Morgan Library during the Tarot! Renaissance Symbols, Modern Visions, through October 4th, in bookstores and online, especially at Bookshop.org which supports independent bookstores.

Susan Wands Arcana Oracle Series