Cameron Russell

10/27/04

E379K

Prof. Bump                                                     https://webspace.utexas.edu/mpython6/progress/Aliester.htm

Cheating With Magick

                One tends to panic when he has to write over two thousand words with footnotes in one night.  As a matter of fact, someone like me would probably get down right desperate to figure out how to write such a daunting project such as the one that lay before me not two hours earlier.  I would even go so far as to cheat in the most extraordinary way possible to succeed in my senior seminar class.  After way too much caffeine and more books on Aleister Crowley than you can shake a pantacle[1] at, I finally snapped and did the unthinkable:  I conceived of a scheme to summon the spirit of Aleister Crowley[2] with his own Magick [3] rituals he had devised himself.  Aleister Crowley never actually graduated from Trinity College but that never kept him from finding a way to obtain notoriety.  While he was a poet first and foremost he found a new passion in the magical arts and the occult.  He researched and wrote several books on Magick that he devised himself before went on to establish and maintain a cult that still exists today.  If this man was truly as mystically wise and powerful as he was said to be then I should have had no problem summoning his spirit to me to guide me in my project.  I started the occult procedure by placing a copy of the Beatles album “Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band”[4] in the center of my bedroom because Crowley was on the cover.  The next part was easy to do.  I procured a dose of heroin from the park where Fourth and Guadalupe meet, at any time of night. Crowley had tried to shake off his heroin habit for the last thirty years of his life [5] and I’ll be damned if I would let him do it in death.  I opened up countless salt packets in order to form a sacred ring to trap Aleister and the two, now magically spooky, items in.  I winced at the thought of having to vacuum up the mess that this invocation was inevitably going to leave and cut my pinky with a knife from my kitchen.  Flinging my blood into the circle I chanted the sacred words:

“I call to you with graven image and offering. I invoke you by your names: To Mega Therion! Perdurabo! Baphomet! The Beast 666! Fo-Hi! Count Alexander Svareff! Chiao Khan! Alys! Come thou forthwith, without delay, from any and all parts of the world thou mayest be, and make rational answers unto all things that I shall demand of thee, for thou art conjured and I’m really desperate!”

With very little hope in my heart I stood there, almost about to cry from sheer desperation and the fact that I had cut my pinky too deep.  As I watched the inside of the circle I heard a small pop, a light tapping, and then a sigh.  To my shock, the hit of heroin had disappeared into thin air and a small amount of smoke the size of a bowling ball was inverting on itself in the middle of the circle.  Acting quickly, I pulled out my extinguisher and sprayed into the circle.  This was a bad idea.  Not only did I end up covering Crowley with flame retardant powder but I had also broken the sacred circle with my hasty actions.  Crowley would have probably given me a thorough beating if he were not high on heroin and stunned by my mighty extinguishing force.  Seeing as how he was in such a pleasant state, I cautiously entered the circle and asked him if he needed anything, but all he could do was nod and stare off into the distance.

I assume that his powers, which had lain dormant for over fifty years, are what sent us both back to Cambridge University circa 1897.  In another pathetic puff of smoke Aleister had returned us to the time when he had found himself most at ease with life [6] .  I should have brought along a note pad to jot down concepts and ideas but when you are conjuring up the spirit of a man who created his own religion in less than twenty years you have better things on your mind. 

“Well then?  Are we going to tolerate you to stand there gaping at my Magick or are you going to allow me to prove that I had a far superior quality education than yourself?” asked Aleister.

“Well, I could use a brief sit down before you drag me all over Cambridge and I really think we need to make some proper introductions.”

Crowley stared at me for a brief moment and then shook his head.  I was thrown by his manner towards me, but, then again, he was being rather nice under the circumstances. I was really jazzed that the ritual had worked, regardless.  He started down [Figure 4] The Avenue while I stood there, still a bit off center.  Due to the great deal of trees shading our path, I could scarcely see the library save for what the lime and cherry trees telescoped for me.  I noted that down this path the trees seem to be planted in a somewhat specific pattern but have been there for so long that it seems as if they have always belonged there.  It’s as if they could have gotten up and walked to a better spot if they chose because there is so much open nature that surrounds the college.

“I think better when I walk!” he said to me over his shoulder. “You should learn to acclimate yourself to a new environment more quickly.  You shouldn’t let yourself get thrown off guard by something new,” he said as I jogged to catch up with him.  “This University is made for good, healthy, intellectual walks.  I dare say I communed more with nature than with my own classmates during the three years I attended Trinity College. I still remember when I first came to Trinity…”

“Do you think that your choice of college influenced who you became or was it inevitable?  What I mean to say is, what was there about Trinity College, or more generally, Cambridge University that caused this feeling of freedom and subsequent change of personality?”

“You ask some very general questions.  It is almost as if you want me to do the project for you and I might have if you hadn’t broken the circle.”

“Damn.”

“But I think I can give you a general answer and you can fill in the blanks as we stroll along. ‘When I went up to Cambridge in the October term of 1895, I had the sensation of drawing a long deep breath as one does after swimming under water or as one does after bracing oneself against the pain inflicted by a dentist. I could not imagine anything better in life. I found myself suddenly in an entirely new world. I was part of the glories of the past; and I made a firm resolution to be one of the glories of the future. I must admit that I don't know of much else in England of the works of man which I would not          

[7]   If nothing else it is the leisurely sprawl of the campus that puts one at ease  , but to make this not so one sided, why don’t you amuse me with the modernities of your American University as we go?  That should give your paper some structure as well.”

“Man, you’re good. This is a great walk, by the way. You were right.  The long stretches of open grass fields really make it feel like this is an institution that takes up its rightful amount of space.                     

                                                                                                                                            Figure 5 UT Stadium

  At my University I don’t play sports so I’m not allowed on the largest open field we have.” [8]

“That, my boy, has to be their first mistake.  An institution of learning should always make its surroundings comfortable to the student.  It must give

 the student ample room to move about the natural world alienated from the worries of day-to-day living.  That, in itself, fosters a greater appreciation

 of the University, when a gown [10] can focus on his cultivation of the mind, solely.”

Figure 6 Trinity College                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

While we had been walking I could not help but notice all the well-kept lawns and trees that created a harmony that the buildings seemed to co-exist in.  This was an institution that understood that if a building stood out of place, the students would feel the same way.  In contrast, the main concern of the powers that be at University of Texas was whether or not the new buildings were going to follow the campus master plan. [11]   Yet, the frustrating part of the master plan, altered at least three times since adopted, is that a committee comprised of students, faculty, staff, and builders came to the conclusion that “the University of Texas campus is large and often presents faculty, students, and staff with an environment that is daunting, even threatening.  The size of the University and the many living possibilities in the city promote a lack of identity and a sense of fragmented community.  There is a need for more, good, usable open spaces for informal interactions that will contribute to a sense of belongingness and communal spirit.” [12]   

Here, at Cambridge, I find myself more calm and willing to take my time with this walk and I care less and less about getting back home and more about what else Aleister can tell me about this place as we walk.  Perhaps, this is because the area is so open around the campus and doesn’t force the students to funnel through distinct pathways.  It could also be that nature is all around me, growing like it should and not hidden behind shrubs or elevated and corralled by limestone borders. Figure 7 West Mall

Nature has its place here and there is a synergy between it and the man-made structures.

We had walked over the Avenue Bridge and were strolling along the river Cam

 Figure 8 Cam River [13] that is the border between Trinity College and the massive Downs [14] that lay behind the college.  We passed by the eastern face of Wren’s Library, which simply took my breath away at the sheer grandeur and antiquity that the library not so much suggested as commanded.  The library not only stands as an impressive building that stretches out in a way that makes me think of a lithe cat recovering from a nap, but as Crowley pointed out, it also forms part of the courtyard structure all too familiar to Cambridge.

 Figure 9 Wren Library [15]

A.C. said,” Of course, I’ll show you the advantages of having a series of courtyards after we pass through the Great Gate, but right now I want you to notice that the Wren forms one section of the courtyard wall.  Even though it could be looming as an oppressive force you’ll note that you can pass through the base of it quite easily which is almost like leaving the gates open to a cage.  A creature is more apt to return to its cage if it knows it can leave just as easily and let’s be honest, lad.  We students are nothing but curious animals out of our element when we leave home and we don't want anything to restrict our movements.”    

    We stopped for a moment outside the chapel on the corner of Trinity St. and I felt less perturbed by the presence of religion here.  Perhaps this was because the Chapel structures were more vehemently beautiful and didn’t cause the campus to feel more crowded. This is in contrast to the churches that box in the University causing me to feel increasingly claustrophobic.  The churches surrounding the UT campus are more like cardboard facsimiles of what true ecclesiastical buildings should look like

Figure 10 Metodist Church

Figure 11 King's College Chapel [16]
      .

I was compelled to tell Crowley, “Our University was built around, until shops, roads, and theaters surrounded it. Until the outside world was only as far as the sidewalk.” 

“In Cambridge, the town has also grown up around it but it has been kept in check and the University has preserved most of its grounds so that the students can find an intellectual shelter”, said Aleister. 

“My intellectual shelter was a tiny room that I shared with someone else in a building designed by a firm who supposedly also designed a few prisons.

 Figure 12 Jester West [17]   I doubt that your rooms at 16 St. John’s Street were as soul crushing as my room where I couldn’t even open a window for fresh air.  I read that your rooms overlooked St. John’s Chapel [18]and you can’t deny that the building whose tower is the highest point in Cambridge wasn’t something far more wonderful to wake up to than a prison-like courtyard with two tennis courts and a scant few trees.  There is something about having to pull your bed out of a wall at night that can be a bit demoralizing.  I think this is especially true when you have been using it as a bench for the last three hours as you start to feel like you are sleeping on a couch/bed combo.”

Figure  13 St. John's Chapel[20]Figure 14 My Jester Court Yard View

“No, I would not argue with you on that point my friend.  An airless bedroom and a soulless building do not a scholar make.  I, personally, would hex the man who felt the need to build such a monstrosity.  Also, the mere idea of a University being bordered by roads and highways and not fields and walls brings my blood to a boil.  At Cambridge I don't suppose that I appreciated this fact at the time, but ‘my attitude was determined by the unquestionable beauty of ecclesiastical architecture and the comparative dignity of the ritual.’” [22] Said Crowley.

I heard the Trinity tower clock chime five o’ clock and for the first time a segment of a poem came to mind.                  

Figure 15 Trinity Clock Tower

Near me hung Trinity’s loquacious clock,                                                                                                               

Who never let the quarters, night or day,

Slip by him unproclaimed, and told the hours

Twice over with a male and female voice

Her pealing organ was my neighbor too; [23]

     Wordsworth, himself, considered some of the architecture on the Cambridge campus familiar enough to be called a neighbor and here I was walking along the same paths he had and hearing the same tower bells.  This place felt alive with greatness as I walked around the outer walls of Trinity.  [24]

 Figure 16 Great Gate           

            Aleister guided me around to the Great Gate [25] and I stood there wondering if I was even allowed to walk through.  The ornateness and pure dignity that the gate calls to mind almost made me shy away but Crowley, not one to be intimidated, gave me a firm hand on the shoulder and said, “You know, you don’t have to go in.”

            All I could say was, “How could I not?”

We walked into the Great Court and I almost tripped when I saw the huge expanse of grass being painted by the setting sun.  The fountain near the center of the court was more ornate and precious than any I had seen in my life.

Figure 17 Great Court Fountain  

 

Crowley turned to me and stared hard into my eyes when he said, “Carefully turn around [26] and look at your surroundings.  What is the first feeling you get when you look around you?”

    I started turning around slowly trying to take in the images that now surrounded me and I finally understood what Hopkins meant by inscape.  Like I was the butterfly that had been pinned to a board and now I was released into a habitat where I was intended to flutter. [27]

“How could anyone think that crowding buildings together in such a recalcitrant way could ever encourage mental  cohesiveness or become a conduit for knowledge?  I, myself, carried the orderly and structured feelings I gained here with me when I delved into the mystical.  The system of beliefs I created do not still exist today because I haphazardly laid out my thoughts,” whispered Crowley. [28]

                                                                                                                                                         Figure 18 UT Campus Crowding            

 As we strolled around the Great Court I had to make sure I kept moving because I was constantly staring at the open expanse of grass and how the buildings fenced me in with an almost apathetic charm.  Almost as if the buildings that created the court’s boundaries were there to protect me from what lay outside rather than to prevent me from leaving.  This space is about as large as that of our own University of Texas Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium.  The court provided a place for students to mill about in an open area and spend the quality informal interaction time together, unlike The University of Texas.  You gain a sense of freedom when you see that you aren’t constantly walking between buildings and caged in plants.  You can breathe here and you want to take your time getting around instead of getting funneled down paved paths.  The lack of structures inside the court lend to that feeling of unfettered movement but the fountain that stands in the center stands like an ornate granite gazebo rising almost two stories high.  I look to the Hall and consider what it is like to dine with such a large mass of students.  With that kind of social time pre-ordained I cannot help but feel jealous for all the times I sat alone to a personal pizza at my old Jester dorm.  It makes me think that if you keep students together at such close quarters they will begin to desire time away from each other instead of craving interaction with their fellow undergraduates.  I became more curious about the inside of the Hall and thought about taking a quick peek inside.    

“Can we see the Hall before I pass out from blood loss?  I really did cut my pinky pretty bad”, I said.                                                                                                           

“Serves you right for the extinguisher, prat,” he sneered.

I stared at the fountain on my left as we made our way across the court to the Hall where the students received their meals.  I stepped inside and was graced with a row of paintings depicting some of the great men who had passed through the same doorway afore me.  I didn’t try reading the plaques under them as my concentration was now floating a bit.  I walked, a bit more timidly, deeper into the Hall to see three amazingly long tables laid out before me.  What more could a student ask for in creating a sense of belonging?  To sit down to such large meals together could only encourage comradery between students and increase “informal interactions that will contribute to a sense of belongingness and communal spirit.” [29]   The ceiling was so high above me, when I looked up, that I became truly dizzy as I gazed at the finely carved buttresses and arches.  I started to fall backward when I barely heard Aleister say, “Don’t call me again as I have now passed on the last of what I had to teach.”

I woke up in my bed with Auntie Emm leaning over me, patting my head with a cool cloth, and I relaxed for a moment until I realized that I wasn’t supposed to be black and white.  Then, I woke up again with my face in salt and carpet.  My room smelled acrid like burning tar and my cat was licking my pinky out of sympathy or hunger.  I couldn’t tell.  I tried the whole ‘There’s no place like home’ bit, to go back to Auntie, but all I got was a cramp in my foot.  Now, as I sit here two hours later I find myself realizing two important points.  First, that the University of Texas has a long way to go and a lot to make a mends for before they can be on par with Cambridge University.  Second, I recognize now that Aleister Crowley had a real knack for this magic thing.

Word count: 3,052

Works Cited

Crowley, Aleister The Confessions Of Aleister Crowley

 London: Mandrake Press, 1929.

 

Sutin, Lawrence  Do What Thou Wilt

New York: St. Martin's Press, 2000

 

Wordsworth, William  The Prelude, Literature, Architecture, and Art Vol. 1

Austin: Jenn’s Copies, 2004

           

  UT Campus Master Plan

http://www.utexas.edu/administration/strategicplan/AppendixI.html