Pullen-Burry correspondence
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An article that I had long planned to write for Black Pearl, but never did, was one exploring the life of Dr. Henry Pullen-Burry through some of his letters to Paul Foster Case. In my opinion, Pullen-Burry is one of the best documented examples of the 6=5 grade - not in the G.D. sense, but in the A.'.A.'. sense - that we have on record (and he eventually went a lot past that). His story is worth telling.
First, some basics. Dr. Henry Pullen-Burry was initiated into the 0=0 grade of the Golden Dawn in Isis-Urania Temple on November 27, 1892, taking the motto Anima Pura Sit ("To Be Pure of Mind"). He was admitted to the 5=6 grade a year and a half later, on March 14, 1894, taking the new motto Deus et Lex ("God & Law"). In his correspondence he claims eventually to have reached the 7=4 grade, and my reading of this is that he reached it in the A.'.A.'. sense.
Some of his history in the Order: He succeeded Alexander Carden as Isis-Urania Sub-Cancellarius in 3/94. He succeeded Percy Bullock as Cancellarius of Isis-Urania for what appears to be all of 1896-97. He authored Flying Roll #8, a brief instruction on “A Geometrical Way to Draw a Pentagram.”
He was a physician, listed in a 1921 advertisement in Azoth magazine as “Lit. of the Royal College of Physicians of London and member of the Royal College of Surgeons of England.” He moved to the Klondike (reportedly in 1891, but that date can't be right - perhaps '97?), leaving his wife and two daughters behind without means. He later relocated to Portland, OR. In 1898, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle described his encounters with the “small doctor” and “a student of the occult,” meaning Dr. Pullen-Burry.
He became a correspondent of Michael Whitty and, later, of Paul Foster Case, and especially supported Case in breaking from the Alpha et Omega to go off on his own. It was Fra. D.E.L. who wrote to Case that, “The new wine of Aquarius must be put into Aquarian bottles” and who, in a letter to Whitty 9/20/20 assumed full karmic responsibility, as a 7=4, for the wide dissemination of certain secret teachings.
His unpublished correspondence with Case and Whitty provides the best biographical information on D.E.L. known to me. He appears to have been only 5=6 while formally connected with the Order in England, but continued in his progress. In the 9/20/20 letter to Michael Whitty, he described his 6=5 period in terms of tremendous hardships, 1904-1911 (which probably refers to the initiation process only). He shows every sign of having, then, actually advanced to 7=4.
His 1925 book Qabalism, published by The Yogi Publication Society, is an astounding work on the subject, in no way merely replicative of anything then existing on the subject. It might be rightly considered his 7=4 thesis.
Letter to PFC from Henry Pullen-Burry, unknown date:
Isis Urania was blown up, after I left; it needed it, I foresaw it several years before it happened; and was the chief influence that stayed it in the winter of ’96-’97. Crowley, and a woman having the same motto as yourself [see below] were the agents of the Black that were permitted to do the bursting, and Mathers was entirely blinded as to the nature of these two. I knew the woman well, and protected in words as well as in action as Cancellarius against her advancement, and the whole Temple almost was behind me. M[athers] overrode me in her case; Crowley was advanced without England having anything to do with him: These two were associated together for a mission to London, and they broke up the English Order into independent organizations. All this occurred at a period when I personally know that M. was in a semi-insane condition, from which I believe he recovered after his creation had been shivered in England, and its members scattered into at least three, possibly four parties, pulling different ways.
During my visit to Paris in the winter before mentioned [’96-’97], I was a visitor at his house for some 10 days or two weeks. I was there to prevent disruption, and succeeded in staving it off for a period until indeed I had left Europe some two years or more. So living under the same roof in his little cottage in Auteuil, with him and his charming wife and co-worker, I had the most perfect opportunity to observe; and a physician is taught to observe the smallest as well as the largest signs of human disorder, both physical and mental. I pacified his martial derangement for a while, and all was well. I did not tell all I knew, in fact I did not tell a word about the mental condition that he had induced within himself by unbalanced Mars work. I myself heard him say that Mars was the only force worth working with; and I several times witnessed facts that shewed that he was mislead into thinking that he has to become the leader of forces that would reseat the Scotch Stuarts on the throne of England; and that he gloried in the idea of becoming a leader of Scottish Highlanders for that purpose.
There is no blame in all this to be attributed to him. He was perfectly honest and honorable, but in the old-fashioned martial way. The army was a school of honor of its own kind, and he was of the same kind during this period. Self-sacrifice was well known to him, and with plesure would he lead a desparate charge in the service of the earthly sovereign that he believed in. But he had build up an order of R.C.s that was below par, and now knew that he had taken more upon himself than he could carry, and his martial courage had to be used by himself to destroy his own work because it was unsatisfactory, and not suited to the needs of the leaders of the new dispensation.
The "woman having the same motto as" Case (whose motto was Perseverantia) was likely V.H. Soror Perseverantia et Cura Quies, probably called simply ‘Perseverantia’ by her friends in the Order: this was Mrs. Alice Simpson, the mother of Crowley’s close friend Elaine Simpson, and a known associate of Crowley's during that period. Coincidentally, she was initiated Neophyte the same day as George Cecil Jones, viz., July 12, 1895, and was brought into the Second Order on May 27, 1899, less than a year before the schism. After the schism she was a member of Mather's Isis Temple (of Alpha et Omega).
Letter to Michael Whitty from Henry Pullen-Burry, dated June 7, 1919:
For many years now, about 20, I have lived a sort of Elijah in the wilderness kind of life, never having been permitted to gain a livelihood at any regular work for more than a very short time. No effort of mine to secure a position of any kind has ever succeeded, yet I have been led into all kinds of things for short periods. I should imagine that there could hardly be a man on earth with a more varied experience with all kinds of conditions and people, than myself. Shot from pillar to post, often penniless, cold and hungry, was my lot during the passage through the 6=5 which lasted from 1904 to 1911. Then trouble stopped, personal karma settled, and nothing but my share of world karma to bear; yet, except for a year and a half immediately succeeding promotion, in which I was permitted to hold a clerical position in a sawmill, I have had to be more Elija-like than ever. The ravens are always ‘on the job’ and have very well educated me in the nature and law of Providence.
Shortly after I had to get out of the sawmill, I had to begin printing my lectures; after having given this present course twice but in a far briefer form, the class demanded it and financed it by a subscription of $1.00 a month; which is all that I have had to live upon ever since with a stray fee, or a present for the ‘good of the cause’ from time to time.
Letter to Michael Whitty from Henry Pullen-Burry, dated September 20, 1920:
[Regarding some new material conveyed to Whitty:] Fear not to give it, I assume all responsibility, and clear you of it should the officials of the Piscean Age dispensation raise any question. Their rule in world affairs is a thing of the past, and I have the Authority from the proper quarters to do what is right in the exotericizing of information that now has to be made public; and this is sent to you under their sanction, otherwise I would not do it, for I am as careful of my obligation as any man can be. The hour has struck when, not all things, but very much is to be revealed; so much indeed as in the judgement of the Higher is both necessary, and expedient to aid them in their world work of establishing the Aquarian Religions [...] I am sending you Mss. containing the symbolism of the [Hebrew] Letters, commencing with a considerable discussion of the Tree of Life.
Letter to Paul Foster Case from Henry Pullen-Burry, dated December 18, 1920 (N.B. Michael Whitty had just died, and PFC had not yet taken up Præmonstrator role in Thoth-Hermes Temple. But D.E.L. wrote him [out of the blue?] about the new Order that Case's inner master had already begun to set in motion.):
I have some important news, and information for you. Whenever I hear of a centre of work that is not known to [me] by name, I usually take the first opportunity to find out its standing. This occurred in the case of the [name confidential] two days ago. As you will see it is of more importance than is the now obsolete Rosicrucian Order of the present age. Not that its members are more advanced, but that it is itself a creation for service in the Aquarian Age; and it is under the supevisal of that branch of the Third Order which is in control of world affairs for the present period of 180 years.
That new centre needs just what you are getting, and doubtless when the time is ripe you will ‘discover the manner in which those with whom you are now affiliated are to be brought in touch with that section which you first contacted’. Your words are exactly right, the older must in this case be brought to the younger; not the younger to the older.
Your original alma mater is evidently not ready to do advanced work, the information which you are getting will supply the deficiency, and in due time you will receive the necessary evidence of what I am not telling you. It is busying itself with the preparation of individuals for advanced duties in the coming time, but they are not yet ready to do more; and I believe that so far as they know they are not connected up.
It is one of a group that was created quite a while back, and of their existence as a group we have been aware for many years. There are many of these centres throughout the world, and those which make good will in due time be connected up with the central one, or with others subsidiary to the central one, as is convenient and expedient. Your centre has much development work to do; and your having met Whitty was, I take it, by no means accidental. You needed to know exactly who and what the Rosicrucians were; everyone knows what they are now. Their ways are known, broadcast advertising following the publication of true information has caused the dropping of the title, and the retirement of its modern representatives to a new secresy.
Watch and wait, My Brother, but for the world’sake do not drop your first centre. It is a baby, full of life-force, which if properly developed will become a man; whose career will depend upon the vigor and fidelity of its atoms; you have quite a work to do in nursing it along to mature age, and the experience that you are now getting of its parent that preserved a great portion of the mysteries through the terrible Piscean Age will be invaluable to the infant group of co-operators with the Almighty, because you will be in possession of our unwritten traditions, and the old spirit of the real Order; and that will never die, but it will expand, nay, it is already expanding; for we are in possession of knowledge of the Tree of Life, and the historic tradition that was never known to the European branch. Note the underlinings. It may surprise you to know that we know, and use in our work, 12 instead of 10 Sephiroth. And you will easily see what an evolution of symbolism this will entail when the time comes to develop it for instructional purposes in the Inner Order.
Please consider this confidential, it is only your connection with the [name confidential] that brings it forth.
Fraternally yours, D.E.L.
Letter to Paul Foster Case from Henry Pullen-Burry, dated January 8, 1921:
There is no hurry about bring [sic] Pisceans as you call them into the Aquarian dispensation. Those who pass from one dispensation into the other must do so of their own free will and accord; but first and foremost must they be moved by a burning desire to work with the workers who are organized for human service. They must also asociate with others whom they know to be instructed occultists, and discover that the real initiation is not the affair of physical ceremonies, which are in reality but mile-stones on the road that mark the progress made by those who have no better way.
They must come to know that just as real initiations occur on the astral, even in ceremonial; but that some of the most real are unaccompanied with ceremony altogether. A man’s physical rank stands for very little, it is little more than a small authority temporarily placed in his hands, it is always a great test and trial as to his fitness for more important work than the conduct of lodge work, and the instruction of neophytes.
You ask how you can bring these Pisceans into touch with the [name confidential]. My answer is, don’t try, wait, those who instituted the [name confidential] will know who they want therein, and will lead them to their introducers thereto. Your best course is to remain a mere direction post pointing the way, so that those who really desire to serve may be intuitively led to you for the very purpose. It is highly possible, I do not for a moment state it as a fact, but only as a possibility, that what appears to you to be the disintegrating influence of the Black is merely permitted for the same reason as it was permitted in London [...].
I do not know whether what I have told you, or whether you have heard from [name confidential] the meaning lying behind the speech concerning the sacrifice of the stone Mnizourin. The London people never knew, the Piscean people unassociated with an Aquarian centre of work should not know, unless there is special reason for it. It is but a mnemonic of advice that refers to the Order in all its greater forms in times of crisis and cyclic change. The dog-faced demons are the forces that creep into establishments of the Order to destroy its usefulness to the masses, for whom it works in secret. When they are seen to be approaching, weep aloud for the desecration of the Sanctuary, and sacrifice it by leaving it and setting up a new one where the Mysteries may be kept pure, by becoming once more devoted to unselfish work for humanity, instead of places in which the members seek self-development, on account of spiritual selfishness. This has been done times out of number throughout the ages.
P.S. I speak to you thus on account of your membership of the [name confidential] because it was established to train its members for service, and not for mere self-development.
Letter to Paul Foster Case from Henry Pullen-Burry, dated June 22, 1921?:
When you write to tell me more about the progress of your [name confidential] I am more interested in that than Rosicrucianism. I love to observe the spiritual growth that is taking place under the new dispensation in its younger centres; and really it is absolutely surprising to one who has trained under the old to watch the rapid unfoldment of high spiritual faculty in persons entirely lacking the intellectual training of the R.R. et A.C. by faithful service in obedience to request.
Speaking of the R.R. and A.C., I may now tell you that that title is now regarded as obsolete, a new one having at last been given to the former Second Order under the Aquarian dispensation, and other changes having been initiated, and announced more in accordance with the services it must perform in the new age. The new name may not be written, nor spoken outside the temple except among members who know themselves to be such. As an Order it retires into a secrecy as close as that of the former, for the first 120 years of the former’s life. No term is set for the duration of the new secrecy.
A next letter, date not presently available but no earlier than July, 1921, Re:Michael Whitty’s death:
I grieve with you, but let me also hope with you for a change from the bonds of Pisces, to the much greater freedom of Aquarius; for let me assure you that the old dispensation is really abandoned, and is permitted to die a death of honorable memory, but of comparative uselessness: as witness the conditions into which its centres have degenerated almost everywhere, and the false presentations of its secret teachings that are being put forth boldly by the forces of the enemy, to the deception almost of the elect, if that were possible.
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93,
Perhaps we can consider it for "The Solstice" publication?
93, 93/93
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You're welcome to use it, D.M. It isn't really a finished article, but perhaps the letters speak for themselves?
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"Quote JAE: An article that I had long planned to write for Black Pearl, but never did, was one exploring the life of Dr. Henry Pullen-Burry"
Thanks for posting this article Jim.
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Thanks Jim!
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Draco, you might want to look at my piece on Job also. I could tighten it up a bit, put in Hebrew fonts, that sort of thing, if you think it has any interest.
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Jim, that would be great! We could definitely use it.
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93,
Amazing stuff. It's not about the usual prophecies of change to come, but about a clear understanding that change has already happened. I agree about Pullen-Burry going to the Klondike in 1897, not 1891 - the Gold Rush started in '97, and continued into '98. Before that, people thought there was only forest with bears up there.
Any comments to offer on the following?
"It may surprise you to know that we know, and use in our work, 12 instead of 10 Sephiroth."
93 93/93,
Edward
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93, All,
93s,
Oz, L.A.Y.L.A.H.
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@Jim Eshelman said
"The "woman having the same motto as" Case (whose motto was Perseverantia) was likely V.H. Soror Perseverantia et Cura Quies, probably called simply ‘Perseverantia’ by her friends in the Order: this was Mrs. Alice Simpson, the mother of Crowley’s close friend Elaine Simpson, and a known associate of Crowley's during that period."
According to John Symonds, it was Crowley, acting under mandate from Mathers, and Elaine Simpson who took over the London GD lodge and recaptured the Vault of the Adepts (The Great Beast 666, p. 35).
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John Symonds is as poor a historian of Crowley as you can find. His picture is in the dictionary next to "bad biographer."
But, that aside: Both Elaine and her mother were instrumental.
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@Henry Pullen-Burry said
"It may surprise you to know that we know, and use in our work, 12 instead of 10 Sephiroth."
In Qabalism (p.130), Dr. Pullen-Burry credits someone named Rose with naming the two extra sephiroth "Prescience" and "The Religious Sense". Any idea who Rose is?
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No. No data.
But, knowing how his mind worked, it well could have been... the Rose.