Description
Jerry Edward Cornelius
Privately Printed, Berkeley, California, USA 2023. Paperback. 507 pages. Edited with new information. Brand new!
“The old Grady died on the frontiers of the Abyss. Was Grady ever fully sane again? Absolutely not. What was left in its wake was burnt ash—a crazed, bearded old man with a hearty laugh and lots of stories. But, then again, the sages have long said that the madness of a Fool moves Universes…”
Originally released as two volumes of RED FLAME, A Thelemic Research Journal titled In the Name of the Beast, A Biography of Grady Louis McMurtry, Disciple of Aleister Edward Crowley (2005) and long out-of-print, this newly revised biography of Grady is now in one volume.
Besides being a complicated man, Grady McMurtry was a magician. Magick and Oaths defined who he was. This biography not only tells priceless stories about Grady’s travels amongst Thelemites from the early thirties to the mid-eighties but it also gives us a rare glimpse into the magickal mind of a practicing ceremonial magician.
Trying to write a biography about a person like Grady Louis McMurtry (1919-1985), whose Magickal Motto of Frater Hymenaeus Alpha 777 is equally recognisable and has taken on a life of its own is very difficult. In truth, this biography is about two distinct people woven together in one incarnation. One is a mere mortal, full of foolishness and earthly bravado; the other is the shell of that individual driven by their True Will, or genius, to aspire to greater heights.
J. Edward Cornelius joined the O.T.O. in 1977. He would serve as the Lodge Master of several O.T.O. lodges. He joined the A.’.A.’. under Grady Louis McMurtry in July of 1979. In April of 1984 he swore the Oath of the Abyss under Grady’s direct guidance, himself having sworn it years earlier.
Cornelius is McMurtry’s recognised heir as the undisputed Caliph and head of his A.’.A.’. lineage. Having written over 20 published books on Thelma and Crowleyanity, he ran Love’s Sake Clerk House in Prescott Arizona, until December 8th 2023 when he shed his earthly body.
