Table Of ContentCROWLEY'S APPRENTICE
About the author
Gerald Suster was educated at Trinity Hall, Cambridge, and
has written numerous books including nine novels as well as a
study of the occult ideas of Hitler, and a biography of Aleister
Crowley. He was a personal friend of Israel Regardie and has
had a long-standing interest in occult ideas.
CROWLEY'S APPRENTICE
The Life and Ideas of Israel Regardie
by
Gerald Suster
RIDER
LONDON SYDNEY AUCKLAND JOHANNESBURG
Copyright © 1989 Gerald Suster
All rights reserved
Rider & Co Ltd
An imprint of Century Hutchinson Ltd
Brookmount House, 62-65 Chandos Place, Covent Garden,
London WC2N 4NW
Century Hutchinson Australia (Pty) Ltd
88-91 Albion Street, Surry Hills, NSW 2010
Century Hutchinson New Zealand Ltd
PO Box 40-086, 32-34 View Road, Glenfield, Auckland 10, New Zealand
Century Hutchinson South Africa (Pty) Ltd,
PO Box 337, Bergvlei, 2012, South Africa
First published in Great Britain by Rider & Co Ltd 1989
Set in Plantin by Avocet, Bicester, Oxon
Printed and bound in Great Britain by
Guernsey Press Company Ltd
British Cataloguing in Publication Data
Suster, Gerald, 1951-
Crowley's apprentice: the life and ideas of Israel
Regardie.
1. Occultism. Regardie, Israel, 1907-1985
I. Title
133'.092'4
ISBN 0-7126-2937-8
Contents
Introduction lX
1 Adolescent Awakenings 1
2 Yoga and the Intelligent Teenager 10
3 The Approach to Magic 18
4 The Wickedest Man in the World 31
5 First Fruits 52
6 The Golden Dawn and a Poison Cloud 62
7 'On the Couch 79
8 A Friend in Jesus? 93
9 Solve et Coagula 102
10 The Art of True Healing 110
11 'It's a funny old world .. .' 127
12 The Occult Explosion 138
13 Light in Extension 149
14 The Sage of Sedona 160
15 Ecce Homo 181
To JAMES
Introduction
Dr Francis Israel Regardie (1907-85) is one of the most
important figures in the twentieth-century development of
what some have called the Western Esoteric Tradition. The
elements of this tradition have their origins long before the
birth of Christ; they survived during the Middle Ages, were
openly revived for a time during the Renaissance and con
tinued to exist during the Scientific Revolution, but the phrase
'Western Esoteric Tradition' normally refers to the synthesis
accomplished by 'MacGregor• Mathers within the Hermetic
Order of the Golden Dawn during the early 1890s. Some
proceeded to explore and build upon this tradition, taking it to
pastures unsuspected by Mathers. Aleister Crowley is an
obvious example; and Regardie stands out too as a figure of
central importance.
Earlier this year, Ms Laura Jennings, a leading representa
tive of the Israel Regardie Foundation set up shortly before the
latter's death, asked me for a brief testimony to the man's
memory for the Foundation's records and possible publica
tion. I endeavoured to oblige with the following:
When a great Magician dies, one is sure to be bored by those who
loudly proclaim: 'I was his Great Disciple'. In Regardie's case, they
condemn themselves for he did not have disciples; he had friends. I
was proud to be one of them though it was obvious to me that he was
older, more accomplished and much wiser than myself.
I first met Regardie in Los Angeles, after a correspondence on
Crowley, in the Summer of 1972 and found him both impressive and
delightful. I especially appreciated his kindness, his modesty and his
gloriously sane and refreshing sense of humour. My return to
England meant that I did not see him again until my stay in America
1981-2, which is when we became friends.
At the age of 76, his vim and vigour put many young men to
viii CROWLEY'S APPRENTICE
shame. He was a consistently stimulating and charming companion
and I treasure the memories of staying at his lovely home in Sedona
and enjoying the excellence of his hospitality. He was a man who
loved life and this was reflected in the broad range of his interests; he
even shared my love of Boxing. He never forced his own views on
others - 'The divine Genius is within you,' he used to say, 'do it
yourself' - though one could aways t\lm to him for sagacious advice.
I had the honour of receiving instruction from him - he was
reluctant to teach though superb once he was persuaded to do so -
and of witnessing his magical work. Here, his style was calm,
authoritative, firm and courteous - yet the Power his Magic
generated was awesome. There was a pure and shining integrity
about his dedication to the Great Work and this was shown too in his
impatience with pretension and inessentials. Whenever he was asked
his Grade, he would reply: 'I'm a student. We're all students.' In my
view, Golden Dawn Magic owes its continued survival to the tireless
work of Regardie·.
He was an excellent writer on Magic and Psychology and
performed a lasting service by bringing these two· disciplines
together. His style was crisp and clear, his contents of permanent
value to any seeker after Wisdom. One particularly applauds his
technical innovations which gave us the Middle Pillar Ritual and the
Opening by Watchtower; and The Eye in the T"riangle, by far the
finest study of Aleister Crowley. The Complete Golden Dawn System
of Magic is of course his greatest contribution: one might call it the
essential compendium of pure Magical Oassicism, and all students
owe Regardie a lasting debt of gratitude.
One evening when I was sitting with Regardie out on his sun-deck
and we were gazing at the canyons in the distance, I asked him for the
greatest piece of wisdom about life that he knew. 'Sounds banal, I
know,' he replied, 'but it's a funny old world.' That was in the
Summer of 1982 and in the years since then, I have found that
allegedly banal statement to be Of All Truth on every plane. I can
hear Regardie's voice as I am typing this. 'Oh, yes,' the old man's
chuckling, 'It's a funny old world.'
The foregoing was an endeavour to summarize the essence
of the matter, though obviously very much more needs to be
said: hence this work. Its seed was planted in a curious way.
INTRODUCTION IX
Back in Easter 1982, my then wife, Ann, and I were staying at
Regardie's home in Sedona, Arizona. The house could be
reached via an uphill road called Inspiration Drive concerning
which Regardie related to us an interesting local belief. Those
who had lived in Sedona for many years held that if a writer or
artist walked or drove up Inspiration Drive, a creation would
result. The following day, Ann and I made a point of taking the
car up Inspiration Drive - after all, it is not called Inspiration
Walk. I have to confess, with all due shame, that to my
conscious knowledge I felt no inspiration whatsoever. How
ever, during the brief ascent of the road, Ann became calmly
convinced that one of my future projects had to be a book on
Israel Regardie.
I thought about this for a time and gradually the conviction
grew strongly within me that Ann was right. Therefore, when
I next stayed with Regardie, I raised the matter and asked for
his permission to proceed the moment I had the time and the
publisher. He considered the proposal thoughtfully then
responded by stating that no, he would not allow me to write
a detailed account of his life.
'My life is of no interest to anybody except me,' he declared.
'No.'
I retorted that he had misunderstood and I had not clearly
explained the nature of my intended approach. It was not my
purpose to explore and expound the day-to-day details of his
worldly existence. It was the evolution and expression of his
thought which fascinated me. My goal was to study the ideas
of an interesting man who honestly sought wisdom and whose
writings have influenced so many; indeed, one could see this
influence growing with the republication of all his works.
Therefore my book would indeed give an essential outline of
his life, including anything he chose to tell me for publication;
but its aims were to study the progress of his thought,
scrutinize the traditions and ideas presented in a form
intelligible to the general reader yet satisfying to the specialist,
constructively criticize these statements which are open to
question and, finally, paint a portrait of a man.
