Editing J. F. C. Fuller (section)

==Magic and mysticism==
Fuller had an [[occultist]] side that oddly mixed with his military side. He was an early disciple of English poet and magician [[Aleister Crowley]], and was very familiar with his and other forms of [[magick (Aleister Crowley)|magick]] and [[Great Work (Thelema)|mysticism]]. While serving in the [[Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry#Operations across the Empire (1881–1914)|First Oxfordshire Light Infantry]] he had entered and won a contest to write the best review of Crowley's poetic works, after which it turned out that he was the only entrant. This essay was later published in book form in 1907 as ''The Star in the West''. After this he became an enthusiastic supporter of Crowley, joining his magical order, the [[A∴A∴]]., within which he became a leading member, editing order documents and its journal, ''[[The Equinox]]''. During this period he wrote ''The Treasure House of Images'', edited early sections of Crowley's magical autobiography ''The Temple of Solomon the King'' and produced highly regarded paintings dealing with A∴A∴ teachings: these paintings have been used in recent years as the covers of the journal's revival, ''The Equinox, Volume IV''.<ref>{{Cite book
| publisher = Red Wheel/Weiser
| isbn = 978-0-87728-888-6
| last = Crowley
| first = Aleister
| others = Hymenaeus. Beta (ed.)
| title = Commentaries on the Holy Books and Other Papers: The Equinox v.4, No.1
| date = October 1996
}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book
| publisher = Red Wheel/Weiser
| isbn = 978-0-87728-906-7
| last = Crowley
| first = Aleister
| others = Hymenaeus. Beta (ed.)
| title = The Vision and the Voice - With Commentary and Other Papers: The Equinox v.4, No.2
| date = December 1999
| title-link = The Vision and the Voice
}}</ref>

After the April 1911<ref>{{cite book |last1=Churton |first1=Tobias |title=Aleister Crowley in America: Art, Espionage, and Sex Magick in the New World |year=2017 |publisher=Inner Traditions |isbn=978-1-62055-630-6}}</ref> ''Jones vs. The Looking Glass'' case, in which a great deal was made of Aleister Crowley's [[bisexuality]] (although Crowley himself was not a party to the case), Fuller became worried that his association with Crowley might be a hindrance to his career. Crowley writes in chapter 67 of his book, ''[[The Confessions of Aleister Crowley]]'':

{{blockquote|
...to my breathless amazement he fired pointblank at my head a document in which he agreed to continue his co-operation on condition that I refrain from mentioning his name in public or private under penalty of paying him a hundred pounds for each such offence. I sat down and poured in a broadside at close quarters.

"My dear man," I said in effect, "do recover your sense of proportion, to say nothing of your sense of humour. Your contribution, indeed! I can do in two days what takes you six months, and my real reason for ever printing your work at all is my friendship for you. I wanted to give you a leg up the literary ladder. I have taken endless pain to teach you the first principles of writing. When I met you, you were not so much as a fifth-rate journalist, and now you can write quite good prose with no more than my blue pencil through two out of every three adjectives, and five out of every six commas. Another three years with me and I will make you a master, but please don't think that either I or the Work depend on you, any more than [[J.P. Morgan]] depends on his favourite clerk."<ref>{{Cite book
| publisher = Arkana
| isbn = 978-0-14-019189-9
| last = Crowley
| first = Aleister
| title = The Confessions of Aleister Crowley
| location = London
| year = 1989
| title-link = The Confessions of Aleister Crowley
}}</ref>
}}

After this, contact between the two men faded rapidly. The front pages of the 1913 issues of the ''Equinox'' (Volume 1, nos. 9 and 10), which gave general directions to A∴A∴ members, included a notice on the subject of Fuller, who was described as a "former Probationer";<ref>{{cite journal|url=http://www.the-equinox.org/vol1/no9/eqi09000.html |title=Sun in Aries: Frontpages |journal=The Equinox |volume=1 |number=9 |date=March 1913 |access-date=2014-06-30}}</ref> the notice disparaged Fuller's magical accomplishments and warned A∴A∴ members to accept no magical training from him. However, Fuller continued to be fascinated with [[occult]] subjects and in later years he would write about topics such as the [[Qabalah]] and [[yoga]]. During the mid-1940s, Charles Richard Cammell (author of ''Aleister Crowley: The Man, The Mage, The Poet'') met with Fuller and reported his views about Crowley: "I have heard an eminent personage, General J.F.C. Fuller, a man famous in arms and letters, one who has known the greatest statesmen, warriors, dictators, of our age, declare solemnly that the most extraordinary genius he ever knew was Crowley." After the Second World War and Crowley's death, Fuller wrote a letter to Edward Noel FitzGerald stating: "Crowley was a genuine avatar, but I don't think he knew it, but I do think he senses it in an emotional way." (17 September 1949)<ref>Marco Pasi. (2014). ''Aleister Crowley and the Temptation of Politics'', Acumen Publishing Limited, Durham, p.71</ref>