‘Mercury is in a Very Ape-Like Mood’

Frieda, Lady Harris, wife of Sir Percy Harris, Liberal M.P. and party Chief Whip, created the magnificent Tarot paintings that underpin Aleister Crowley’s The Book of Thoth . Harris conformed to the conventional appearance of a respectable middle-class lady until she was in her sixties. However, her unwavering commitment to Aleister Crowley and the Tarot project eventually threatened not only her social standing, but also her marriage. Despite her dedication to the Thoth Tarot, she never fully engaged with Thelema, which she anthropomorphised as the bossy and interfering ‘Miss Thelema’. Nevertheless, she progressed through the grades of Crowley’s magical orders and remained loyal to Crowley and the Great Work to the end of her days, endeavouring to secure a publishing deal for a general release of The Book of Thoth and the Thoth Tarot deck. Using extracts from Harris and Crowley’s correspondence and Crowley’s diaries, this paper will explore Harris’s personal involvement with Thelema, both in her collaborative activities with Crowley, and her endeavours to preserve his legacy after his death.


Introduction
Historian Marco Pasi considers The Book of Thoth1 to be Aleister Crowley's (1875Crowley's ( -1947 final major endeavour, wherein he used the conventional composition of the esoteric tarot to present his magical interpretation of the correspondences and imagery of the individual cards.2 Crowley described the work as 'an Encyclopaedia of all serious "occult" philosophy. It is a standard Book of Reference, which will determine the entire course of mystical and magical thought for the next 2000 years.'3 Although an accomplished artist in his own right, Crowley chose to commission Frieda, Lady Harris (1877Harris ( -1962, a well-connected society lady, wife of Sir Percy Harris M.P., to execute his designs. Pasi attributes this seemingly strange decision to Crowley's intention to 'give the tarot images a more "neutral" form, which would not get in the way of their use in meditation' .4 Harris had been encouraged by her husband to develop her artistic skills and had exhibited her paintings publicly. She was also fascinated by mysticism and diverse spiritual paths. Accordingly, as Pasi states, she 'was easily able to meet the demands of maintaining neutrality while allowing immediate access to the symbolic content of the cards ' .5 This article will examine the extent and nature of Harris's involvement with Thelema. Although Pasi describes her as 'Crowley's disciple' ,6 her correspondence reveals her issues with certain aspects of her magical instruction. My contention is that Harris's commitment was to Crowley and "the Work", rather than as a dedicated Thelemite.

Who Was Frieda Harris?
Marguerite Frieda Bloxam was born in 1877, the second of three children. Her father, John Astley Bloxam, was a no-nonsense, former military surgeon and, according to his grandson Jack Harris, a professed atheist. Jack Harris also men-Frieda Harris fulfilled her role as a politician's wife and mother of two sons, supporting Percy's election campaigns, entertaining their guests and running his household. In return, Percy actively encouraged his wife's artistic endeavours. Their diverse social circle included writers, actors, artists and politicians. They knew the social reformers, the Pankhursts,13 and attended theatrical performances at the actress Ellen Terry's home in Winchelsea, where the Harrises also had a small cottage.14 Through her mother, Harris had an early introduction to Buddhism, through what she describes as Jessie Porter's 'sentimental reading of the Light of Asia' .15 She was also involved in Christian Science, albeit briefly. Her son Jack describes being 'prayed over by a Christian Science practitioner' in an attempt to cure his tonsillitis.16 Unsurprisingly, the treatment failed to alleviate his symptoms and his tonsils were subsequently removed.17 Due to the paucity of available primary source material, it is difficult to establish the extent of Harris's esoteric knowledge at the time of her meeting with Crowley. However, she was acquainted with fellow esoteric artists, Ithell Colquhoun18 and Maxwell Armfield19 as well as the mystical writer and artist George Russell, better known as AE.20 13 The Pankhursts were family friends, but although both Frieda and Percy Harris were involved peripherally with women's suffrage, there is no clear evidence to suggest that Frieda Harris participated in any militant activities, despite Jack Harris's assertion to the contrary. For further information, see Harris,Memoirs,17; Kate Frye's Suffrage Diary, https://womanandhersphere.com/2012/08/23/kate-fryes-diary-paddington-pandemoniu m/; Saturday June 131908, https://womanandhersphere.com/2012/10/30/kate-fryes-suffra ge-diary-banner-bearer-for-the-13-june-1908-procession/ [accessed 16 August 2019]. 14 Harris,Memoirs,27;Harris,Forty Years,51. 15 Frieda Harris to Gerald Yorke, letter, November 16. 1957, ns76 Yorke Collection, Warburg Institute, University of London, referring to Sir Edwin Arnold, The Light of Asia, a verse translation of the Lalitavistara Sūtra describing the Buddha's journey to enlightenment. 16 Harris, Memoirs, 22. 17 Ibid. 18 Harris and Colquhoun had both discovered Surrealism in Paris and contributed works to the 1942 Imaginative Art since the War Exhibition at the Leicester Galleries in London. 19 In a letter written in 1940, Harris tells Crowley that Maxwell Armfield has suggested a possible exhibition venue for the Tarot paintings (Harris to Crowley, letter [May 1940 In 1926, Harris published her illustrated book, Winchelsea21 which, as historian Ronald Hutton observes, combines classical mythology with the type of nature mysticism popular amongst the British middle-and upper-classes during the nineteenth and early twentieth century.22 The chthonic deities held a particular fascination for Harris, and she considered Gilbert Murray's verse translation of Euripedes' Bacchae, to be 'grand' .23 Winchelsea describes the arrival of the god Dionysus on the East Sussex shores, where he falls in love with a local shepherdess. After an idyllic summer together, Dionysus asks her to return with him to Greece and when she refuses, he transforms her into the town of Winchelsea.
Not only is Winchelsea significant as tangible evidence of Harris's early esoteric interests, it demonstrates that, prior to meeting Crowley, she already believed in the mystical aspects of sexual union: Dionysus woos the nymph, 'teaching her the mysteries, both good and evil … In restless ecstasy this magic summer passed until the light on the marshes dimmed.'24 From her correspondence, it is evident that she was familiar with the works of both Mary Baker Eddy25 and Madame Blavatsky,26 and in a lecture on the Thoth Tarot, she made specific reference to P.D. Ouspensky's New Model for the Universe,27 which describes various esoteric concepts, including the Fourth Dimension and the occult significance of the Tarot. 28 Harris's father was a member of the United Grand Lodge of England, and it is certain that Harris herself was a member of a Masonic Order: a catalogue of her effects listed for auction included two Masonic aprons and a sash from Simpsons, which were subsequently withdrawn. 29 Crowley The two fundamental principles of Thelemic philosophy are, 'Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law'45 and 'Love is the law, love under will.'46 In Thelema, Will pertains to identifying one's true path in life, rather than a hedonistic pursuit of one's own desires irrespective of the needs and desires of others. Although it was customary to use these two phrases from Liber al when greeting fellow initiates, Harris did not adopt the practice in her corre- Harris, with 'neither Latin or Greek … no classical education, indeed no education' ,52 tackled the Greek and Hebrew alphabets, the kabbalah, and the Chinese I Ching, or Yi King as Crowley preferred to call it. From the outset, Harris struggled to incorporate her expanding mystical knowledge into her personal circumstances, especially following the outbreak of the Second World War.
In order to concentrate on the Great Work, Harris relocated to her small studio in the Cotswolds village of Chipping Campden, leaving her husband at the family home in Chiswick in the care of their servants. Crowley challenged her rationale for such a decision: 'to avoid external realities is the way of the Black Brothers and the way of death. The way of the Tao is to accept everything that 47 Harris's letter to Crowley [August 1939 Far from escaping 'external realities' , I maintain that Harris was all too aware of them, and she endeavoured to integrate his teachings into her diurnal activities, even though she doubted their practical efficacy. She told Crowley, 'I am most grateful for your teachings in magic but for all that, it won't alter how I wish to lead my life which is without speculation or grand use of powers' .55 I would interpret this to mean that she had no desire to use magical ritual to achieve specific goals.
As an artist, Harris saw and felt everything both material and mystical and, from her correspondence, it is apparent that she found it difficult to separate the two. No matter who she encountered, their physical environment and character were of equal significance to their spirituality: Mary Baker Eddy and Madame Blavatsky were both deemed to be 'the epitome of early Vict. [Victorian]:' the prose style of the former 'would kill you at sight' and Harris 'always had a good sleep on 'Isis Unveiled' & [Blavatsky's] many ponderous words' .56 Similarly, when visiting an Indian holy woman at her ashram outside Delhi, Harris was appalled by the squalor of her surroundings, concluding that she was 'not the right sort of pilgrim' .57 It is clear from her letters that she also considered herself as the wrong sort of disciple. Despite her fondness for Greek mythology, she confessed to Crowley, 'I do not love Tahuti or any of the Egyptian Deities I try all the same' .58 She considered the 'rules of the O.T.O.' to be 'unnecessary' . 'All these I seem to have attempted to put into practise all my life without the interference of what seems to be the dangerous element of an inquisition or benevolent (or not) dic- 53 Harris to  In order to progress through the grades of the orders, Crowley would have examined Harris on the theory and practical elements of each, but in her eyes, 'It does not appear that I am up to the standard of the 1st degree of o.t.o. or qualified to be the office boy of the Yi' . 62 Harris's magical instruction continued during her self-imposed exile in Chipping Campden and it is evident that practice as well as theory was incorporated into Crowley's occasional visits, treated as ever with Harris's irrepressible humour: 'I enjoyed your visit most awfully & the last evening attached to the Rite, was particularly succulent. I haven't seen Rite [sic] since but when I do, I will report on it' .63 As Crowley was instructing Harris personally, he would have determined the nature and level of magical training she received. However, these elements 59 Harris to Crowley, letter, August 11, [1940]  belong to specific degrees in the A⸫A⸫, and therefore it is possible to draw conclusions on Harris's progress. Following a probationary period, the student is initiated to the grade of Neophyte, 1°=10°, mapped against Malkuth, the tenth sephirah on the Tree of Life. The primary focus is mastering the technique of ascending through the seven planets by astral projection. On successful completion, the Neophyte is initiated into the grade of Zelator, (2°=9°), wherein s/he is instructed in yoga and meditation techniques for posture and breath control. This is followed by Practicus, 3°=8°, aligned to the eighth sephirah, Hod, and the planet Mercury, in which the student learns the kabbalah, philosophical meditation, and 'one mode of divination' .64 As quoted above, Pasi argues that Crowley wanted Harris to create 'neutral' Tarot images that would not distract users when meditating. Therefore, it was agreed that Harris would study the Yi King rather than the Tarot as her designated mode of divination. Initially she felt that, unlike Egyptian deities, 'Chinese Philosophy appears, at present easier, as it shows no sign of a mythology which I can contort into phantoms with the wrong names' .65 However, she found the complexity of the Yi King overwhelming, writing numerous letters querying the structure of individual hexagrams and their correspondences, determined to understand every nuance.
Despite wartime rationing and restrictions, Harris battled on, trying to fit her studies around her work on the Thoth Tarot paintings and her husband's intermittent visits, essential as a refuge from his duties at Westminster and in his constituency, but by December 1940, she was close to abandoning the Yi altogether. She attributed her difficulties to a general antipathy to divination: Crowley explains that 'You are doing divination when you ask me a question. Divination is … a method of rendering the mind lucid, "opened unto the Higher"' . He maps Harris's difficulties with the Yi against the Tree of Life: 'You must raise the mind from Ruach to Neschamah' . In the kabbalah, Ruach is the intellect and Neschamah, intuition. The ultimate aim is to receive enlightenment from the Supernal Triad, the three highest sephiroth: Binah, Chesod and Kether: 'There are three ways of escape: the path of Gimel, the Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel: the path of He, mysticism; and the path of Zayin, Inspiration or Divination. Ruach hates it all!'74 The Practicus follows the path of Zayin, hence the rationale for Harris studying the Yi King. 'If you are to make a new mark in Art, you need a new mind, a mind enlightened from the Supernal Triad. Divination is the best way for you: that is why your Ruach hates it so much' .
You must practice constantly. When your eye is caught by a scrap of paper on the road, a cloud in the sky, a dewdrop on a leaf, anything, stop and wonder: 'All these ages have I travelled, and the worlds have rolled on, to achieve this climax: what is this Message to me?' Do this very constantly and earnestly, very lovingly, and one day, probably when you are in the depths of dryness, the answer will come.75 69 Crowley to  Harris, reassured by Crowley's response, continued her study of the Yi King, and came to appreciate its relevance to her painting. Years later, when she was living in Kashmir, she returned to the Yi, telling Gerald Yorke 'It seems my geometrical drawing leads me in this direction' .76 The next grade is Philosophus, 4°=7°, involving further study of yogic practices, including Bhakti-Yoga, in which the devotee unites him/herself to a specific deity, as described in 'Liber Astarté' .77 The devotee prepares a suitable magical environment for their chosen deity and develops their relationship through a series of invocations. As will be argued in the following section, Harris had a special affinity for the god Mercury. It is my contention, that having achieved the Practicus grade, Harris began working with 'Astarté' in 1941, selecting Mercury as her designated deity.

'The Abominable Mercury'78
In the Hermetic tradition, the Roman deity Mercury equates to the Greek Hermes and the Egyptian Thoth, whose animal aspect is the baboon or Cynocephalus ape. By the time the exhibition was over, Harris was nearly prostrate with exhaustion. She and Crowley agreed that she should undertake a "Great Magical Retirement" or "g.m.r.", for which Crowley provided instructions.89 Sadly, as Harris reported, 'I have not written, not because I have been successful in having a M.R. but because I have been unable' . She had spent two days resting at a friend's cottage before being obliged to attend to a succession of family crises. 'Returning Campden Monday to attempt M.R. ' .90 It is feasible that Crowley's instructions for the magical retirement pertained to 'Astarté' , and Harris was unable to complete the process to achieve appropriate unity with Mercury. My argument is supported by a letter Crowley wrote to Ben Stubbins in August 1942, following Harris's decision to hold two unsanctioned exhibitions of the Tarot paintings: 'F(rieda) H(arris) is in a bad way. She would not invoke Mercury properly, and got obsessed by the Cynocephalusover a year ago, now-and has made blunder after blunder' .91 I would argue that Harris endeavoured to unite herself with Mercury during her "m.r." Although it is impossible to determine the outcome of the ritual, it is clear from the letter quoted above that Crowley  The hotel clearly provided the environment she needed, as she told Crowley, 'Mercury is liking this place. I have been at him all day. What bliss not to be interrupted' . 97 Meanwhile, Crowley was working on his "War Aims", a concise summary of the Law of Thelema in twenty-two lines, ultimately named Liber Oz.98 This would be issued as his 'anti-Christmas' card, and he commissioned a limited run of 200 cards, 150 of which would feature the Aeon Tarot trump, the remaining 50, the Devil. Harris protested vehemently against the use of the latter, believing that it would undermine the integrity of the Thoth Tarot as a whole, because the uninitiated would see the card as 'a pictorial representation of the male organ & your Christmas Greeting will be taken as a filthy postcard … I think Mercury also has a joke with you sometimes' . 99 It is important to note that it was the use of the Devil card rather than the tenets of Thelema, as presented in Liber Oz, to which she objected. She subsequently used the Aeon Liber Oz card as a publicity flyer for an exhibition of the Tarot paintings in Chipping Campden.100 Aries -Journal for the Study of Western Esotericism 21 (2021) 125-152 In her early days as an artist, Harris had created an alter ego, Jesus Chutney, probably influenced by her involvement in Surrealism. She used the name not only for her paintings, but for poetry, correspondence and even the telephone listing for her studio in Richmond.101 Harris occasionally wrote of Jesus Chutney as an independent individual, such as using him to explain the delay in producing her latest version of the Magus card. 'I understand from the messages he [Jesus Chutney] sends me that he has embroiled himself with a person called Mr. Mercury & that he cannot arrange matters to their mutual satisfaction for another week' .102 Despite her endeavours, neither Harris or Crowley were satisfied with the final result and further versions were produced during the course of 1942.103 As mentioned above, Harris exhibited the Tarot paintings during Chipping Campden's Battleship Week in March 1942. Prior to this, Crowley and Harris had agreed to remain anonymous in case Crowley's controversial reputation deterred prospective sponsors. Harris also wanted to avoid any negative impact her association with Crowley might have on her social standing and Sir Percy's political career. As a resident of Chipping Campden, who received Crowley as a visitor, her involvement was already known and she had been specifically invited to exhibit the cards, therefore there was no question of withholding her identity. 104 However, in July 1942, she arranged an exhibition at the Berkeley Galleries in London, without Crowley's prior agreement, with a new and unapproved catalogue, and openly declaring herself 'Frieda, Lady Harris, wife of Sir Percy Harris M.P.' as the artist. Not only did Harris exclude Crowley personally, she glossed over the source of her mystical knowledge. Crowley's diary for July 8 includes a transcript of a newspaper review, under which he wrote: 'No word of credit to the Order. She has no self respect' .105 Initially he considered taking 101 Crowley took over tenancy of the Richmond studio when Harris retreated to Rolling Stone Orchard. In a letter to Gerald Yorke, he writes, 'Please note the above address which is in the telephone book under the name of Chutney.' January 25, 1940, os D5 Yorke Collection. 102 Harris to Crowley, letter, November 20, [1941]. ns37 Yorke Collection. 103 'Frieda brings Mercury' , Crowley, diary, March 10, 1942, ns22 Yorke Collection; 'I also enclose the Mercury-I suppose he will do. He squeezes thro but I wish I had done him better. I don't hear him like that at all' , Harris to Crowley, March 29, [1942] ns37 Yorke Collection; 'Frieda brought Mercury' , Crowley, diary, April 29, 1942, ns22 Yorke Collection; 'the show is superb. Everything exactly right-bar the abominable Mercury. ' Crowley, diary, August 8, 1942, ns22 Yorke Collection. 104 'This is Campden Battleship Week. I've been asked to show my pictures. ' Harris to Crowley, March 22, [1942], letter, ns37 Yorke Collection. 105 Crowley, diary, July 8, 1942, ns22 Yorke Collection. The original clipping is held in the Aleis-legal action, keen to establish that The Book of Thoth was the result of over forty years intense study, and that he had commissioned Harris to create the Tarot images. 106 Although this is clearly evident from contemporary correspondence and diary entries, Harris now insisted that it was she who had engaged Crowley. Concerned about Crowley's plan to have the cards published through the o.t.o. in California, whom she deemed 'a collection of ecstatic idiots' , she wrote to the writer Louis Wilkinson (1881-1966),107 saying 'I can't do anything until I've established my claim as authorship, designer & painter of the cards as he now says I did them to his design (heaven help me!) & talks as if I had been commissioned by him when the truth is the reverse' . 108 Fortunately, Crowley and Harris were able to resolve their individual concerns face to face, and he subsequently visited the exhibition: 'Saw Berkeley Galleries. She had put A.S. [Ace of Swords] in window!!! She agreed to my plan of publishing illustrations' . 109 However, barely three weeks later, Harris opened a second exhibition at the Royal Society of Painters in Water Colours, again without alerting Crowley.110 Accordingly, Crowley went to confront her: Frieda there: very surprised to see me, the low thief! She 'had just written to tell me about it'-I don't think. Told her I knew it on Saturday morning. But-the show is superb. Everything exactly right-bar the abominable Mercury.111 As quoted above, Crowley attributed Harris's actions to her failure to 'invoke Mercury properly' .
She has ended by a really foul insult to Mercury, showing as Trump i 'The Juggler' , a horror most unspeakable instead of the one that I had approved. It is a vile thing. The worst of it is that He will punish her most terribly; of all the Gods, Mercury is the easiest to offend, the hardest to propitiate. He has no human feelings at all; truth is the one virtue that appeals to him.
I am very fond of F.H. and had hoped to make her a real artist; and I cannot even avert the wrath of the insulted God!112 Ultimately Harris and Crowley reached a formal legal agreement, but it was several months before relations between them improved. In a letter to Karl Germer Despite their conflict, Harris continued to pay her weekly fee for magical instruction, but by November her involvement with Crowley had finally caused a rift between Sir Percy and Frieda, and she was facing financial difficulties, obliging her to end Crowley's stipend.114 Although it was May 1943 before the Harrises resolved their differences, by December, Frieda and Crowley were once again on friendly terms. For Christmas, Crowley gave Harris 'the "Jungitur" mantra from Grimorium Sanctissimi to appease Mercury for her' .115 This mantra forms part of the 'Paris Working' , a series of rituals undertaken by his disciple Victor B. Neuburg (1883-1940) in January 1914, devised to invoke both Mercury and Jupiter.116 This invocation is particularly apt in view of Harris's tendency to refer to Sir Percy as Jupiter, whose appeasement was also needed. The definitive Magus Trump, however, still eluded them, and in June 1943, Crowley recorded in his diary that 'She may do a Magus based on the Paris Working' .117 I can trace no further references to design work on the Magus after this date. It is the preserve of a magical practitioner to assess the ritual's efficacy. However, I would argue that Harris believed that she had finally appeased Mercury, enabling her to realise the Magus as he would wish to be portrayed. As mentioned above, relations between Harris and her husband were also improving, so in her eyes she had also placated Jupiter.
There are only a few passing references to Mercury in subsequent correspondence, in which it is Mercury's divine intervention that features, such as Harris attributing the disappearance of some of the Tarot paintings to 'Mercury capering I fear' .118 She later likens his contribution to the Great Work to an alchemical process: As far as Mercury is concerned the Alchemists would say we have attempted a mixture with impure gold or Mercury is not extracted with sufficient heat. Well I tried & so did you & if we haven't made the Philosopher's Stone I feel I have extracted something which is precious to me.119 Harris continued to study Magick with Crowley, occasionally acting as his scribe, despite his uncharitable view of her abilities: 'F.H. who can't spell and taps the ink into her nib with maddening irregularity! But she was a dear to do it!'120 In January 1944, Crowley noted 'F.H. … knows quite a lot about Dhyana: had something like it set 10-11 in a field of gorse (!)'121 Dhyana forms part of the meditation practices to master "Control of Thought", an element of the Philosophus grade. Successful achievement of Dhyana is said to enable the student to merge subject with object, transitioning from knowledge to realisation, bringing them closer to the supernal triad on the Tree of Life.
The Philosophus grade is followed by Adeptus Minor, whose sole task is to achieve 'knowledge and conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel,' the path of Gimel on the Tree of Life. The relationship with the Holy Guardian Angel is introduced in the training for Probationer. As early as January 1940, Harris was reading 'Liber lxv: Liber Cordis Cincti Serpenti' ,122 which Crowley describes 118 Harris to Crowley, letter, July 14, 1944, ns37 Yorke Collection. 119 Harris to Crowley, letter, November 8, 1944, ns37 Yorke Collection. 120 Crowley, diary, October 13, 1943 132 Harris was in search of a guru who could provide spiritual guidance, and she paid several visits to an Indian Holy Woman, known as the "Holy Mother", whose ashram was located outside New Delhi. As mentioned above, Harris's initial reactions were unfavourable but: … on making inquiries I find the lady is a believer in the law of Thelema. She is a Tantric devotee. She has had lots of lovers and has certainly passed the 9th degree which accounts for the flick of recognition she bestowed on me when I was introduced 'Love! Love! love! ['] & never mind what manner of expression.133 Crowley incorporated aspects of Tantric philosophy into his Thelemic sex magical rituals.134 However, as discussed with Richard Kaczynski, it is unlikely that the Holy Mother was a practising Thelemite; rather that the two women recognised a mutual understanding of Tantric sex.135 Therefore, when Harris asked 'Did she think the sexual embrace was the first introduction to holiness?' she was somewhat dismayed to be told that it was 'a wrong path' . 136 Harris then asked if 'the inspiration, concentration & joy one experienced in painting was a real path' . The Holy Mother concurred, as long as it was not for fame or financial gain. She told Harris she 'should contemplate it every day & do daily exercises to reach it' .137 Through Crowley, Harris had learnt to fuse together her mystical training with her painting, enabling her to create 'something completely new in art' . 138 The Holy Mother confirmed what Harris now realised, that art, rather than Thelema, was her true spiritual path.
In 1954, Harris declined an invitation from Alexander Watt, a Canadian disciple of Crowley's, to deliver a lecture tour of the women's universities in North America, including 'a short lecture and discourse on woman's place in the new Aeon' .139 I do not think I feel prepared to lecture on Thelemic doctrines to 'Women only' . I am afraid I do not know much about them and if the lectures are to be a secret initiation into Magic and Tantric rituals, there is nothing in those cards to support those approaches to Wisdom and anyhow I am not the person to do it, being an artist with a simple understanding. It is alarming to be faced with an audience of over-educated women, all She was also incensed by avant-garde filmmaker and Crowley enthusiast Kenneth Anger's portrayal of Crowley in his film Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome (1954).146 She attended the London premiere and accosted Anger afterwards. The director attempted to appease her but the argument ended acrimoniously.147 In a letter to Gerald Yorke, Harris described the film as: … a disease not a film, absolutely filthy & ought to be suppressed … Why don't you all squash the nasty little pansy satellite. I don't think you should tolerate him or what he stands for even if you are amused by his gyrations as we are all still alive & he is tainting a friend's memory.148 Her commitment to the Great Work was equally unwavering and as late as 1961, she was endeavouring to secure a publishing deal for The Book of Thoth and a complete deck of Tarot cards.149

Conclusion
Harris's quest for spiritual fulfilment began at an early age but the fusion of the two most important aspects of her life-art and mysticism-only occurred during her collaboration with Crowley. Until this time, it would appear that she had been relatively contented with her life, but what Crowley offered was so significant that it became her primary focus regardless of the potential damage it might do to her marriage and social standing.
In her commitment to Crowley and the Great Work, Harris was prepared to jeopardise her marriage, even lamenting to Crowley 'I wish I had not married 146 Kenneth Anger, Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome (United States, 1954