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i in por reuae nonse m endandi GUINEA PIGS “the enemy from within is our greatest threat” “We are warring for Democracy, but also for civilization, apparently owing to our inherent love of paradox. We have here a war within a war. We have not only to fight the foe without, and the foe within, but also the foe that is the worst of all, the overzealous friend. We feel rather as the President feels about the Vigilantes. If well-meaning asses were only mules how useful they might be in batteries! We are out to break the political will of another group of nations, and our worst foes are those of our own people who are giving the show away. We go to war to defend the rights of the little nations, and we imprison Irishmen who can not forget that their mothers were raped by British soldiers. We are particularly strong on Belgium, and her representative complains that there is to be no seat for Belgium on the Allied war council. The Germans go to war for Kultur, yet they cannot find an expedient for contracting out of the shelling of cathedrals. And if these things are done in the green tree of the people in power, what shall be done in the dry tree, and withered sticks of the mediocre? We have our attention taken away from the business of fighting by the miserable grunts of these selfadvertising pigs, who are only guinea-pigs in so far as they can always be counted on to sell their souls for a guinea.” – Aleister Crowley, “We Stand Above,” from The International, December 1917 Do What Thou Wilt Shall Be The Whole Of The Law Ninety-six years have passed since Aleister Crowley wrote these words to describe the attitudes of his countrymen during World War One. Social mores have changed radically since that time. Western civilization has made, by its own standards, a great deal of progress. There has been greater protection of the rights of women, ethnic minorities, and an increasing acceptance of various forms of sexual ori- 27 entation. Our technology has advanced to a point beyond the imagination of the average person of Crowley’s time, giving us unprecedented access to scientific information, critical perspectives on world events, and a veritable garden of delights when we wish to entertain ourselves. In the physical realm, we can travel the world in what would comparatively be considered the blink of an eye, bringing forth a blending of culture in which styles of dress, culinary traditions, and spiritual ideas once confined to particular countries are adopted, enjoyed, and studied by whoever finds it their Will to do so. Taking all of these things into con