STUDIES IN MAJOR LITERARY AUTHORS Editedby Williatn E. Cain Professor ofEnglish Wellesley College A ROUTLEDGE SERIES STUDIES IN MAJOR LITERARY AUTHORS WILLIAM E. CAIN, GeneralEditor "SOMEWHATONTHECOMMUNITY-SYSTEM" NoPLACEFORHOME FourierismintheWOrksofNathanielHawthorne SpatialConstraintandGnaracterFlightinthe AndrewLoman NovelsofGormacMcCarthy JayEllis COLONIALISMANDTHEMODERNISTMOMENT INTHEEARLYNOVELSOFJEANRHYS THEMACHINETHATSINGS Carol Dell'Amico Modernism, HartCrane, andtheCultureof theBody MELVILLE'SMONUMENTALIMAGINATION GordonA.Tapper IanS. Maloney INFLUENTIALGHOSTS WRITING"OUTOFALLTHECAMPS" AStudyofAuden'sSources J M. C'oetzee'sNarrativesofDisplacement RachelWetzsteon LauraWright D. H. LAWRENCE'SBORDERCROSSING HEREAND Now ColonialisminHisTravelWritingsand ThePoliticsofSocialSpaceinD. H. Lawrence cCLeadership"Novels andVirginiaWoolf EunyoungOh YoungjooSon DOROTHYWORDSWORTH'SECOLOGY "UNNOTICEDINTHECASUALLIGHTOF DAY" Kenneth R.Cervelli PhilipLarkinandthePlainStyle TijanaStojkovic SPORTS,NARRATIVE,ANDNATIONINTHE FICTIONOFF.SCOTTFITZGERALD QUEERTIMES JaromLyleMcDonald GnristopherIsherwood'sModernity JamieM. Carr SHELLEY'SINTELLECTUALSYSTEMANDITS EPICUREANBACKGROUND EDITHWHARTON'S"EVOLUTIONARY MichaelA.Vicario CONCEPTION" DarwinianAllegoryinHerMajorNovels MODERNISTAESTHETICSANDCONSUMER PaulJ. Ohler CULTUREINTHEWRITINGSOF()SCARWILDE PaulL. Fortunato THEENDOFLEARNING MiltonandEducation MILTON'SUNCERTAINEDEN ThomasFesta UnderstandingPlaceinParadiseLost AndrewMattison READINGANDMAPPINGHARDY'SROADS ScottRode HENRYMILLERAND RELIGION ThomasNesbit CREATINGYOKNAPATAWPHA ReadersandwritersinFaulkner'sFiction ()wen Robinson HENRY MILLER AND RELIGION Thomas Nesbit Routledge NewYork & London ExcerptsfromHenryMiller'sNexus(Grove1965),Plexus(Grove1965),Sexus(Grove1965),andTropicof Capricorn(Grove1961)usedwithpermissionofGrove/Atlantic,Inc. Excerptsfrom aletterofHenryMillerto Herbert Muller,dated2July1941,usedcourtesyofthe Lilly Library,IndianaUniversity,Bloomington,IN. ExcerptsfromHenryMiller'sTheWorldofSex(Ts.HenryMillerPapers,ColumbiaU.)usedwithpermis sionoftheRareBookandManuscriptLibrary,ColumbiaUniversity. ExcerptsfromtheRosyCrucifixionNotes,HerbertFaulknerWestPapers,DartmouthCollege,usedcour tesyofDartmouthCollegeLibrary. ExcerptsfromHenryMiller'sNotebooksand"SchemeandSignifkance"(HenryMillerPapers,Collection 110)usedwithpermissionoftheDepartmentofSpecialCollections,CharlesE.YoungResearchLibrary, UCLA. Routledge Routledge Taylor& FrancisGroup Taylor& FrancisGroup 270MadisonAvenue 2ParkSquare NewYork,NY10016 MiltonPark,Abingdon OxonOX144RN ©2007byTaylor&FrancisGroup,LLC RoutledgeisanimprintofTaylor&FrancisGroup,anInformabusiness PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmericaonacid-freepaper 10987654321 InternationalStandardBookNumber-I3:978-0-415-95603-1(Hardcover) Nopartofthisbookmaybereprinted,reproduced,transmitted,orutilizedinanyformbyanyelectronic, mechanical,orothermeans,nowknownorhereafterinvented,includingphotocopying,microfilming, andrecording,orinanyinformationstorageorretrievalsystem,withoutwritten permissionfrom the publishers. TrademarkNotice: Productorcorporatenamesmaybetrademarksorregisteredtrademarks,andare usedonIyforidentificationandexplanationwithoutintenttoinfringe. LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData Nesbit,Thomas. HenryMillerandreligion/byThomasNesbit. p.em.-- (Studiesinmajorliteraryauthors) Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex. ISBN0-415-95603-X 1. Miller,Henry,1891-1980--Religion. I.Title. PS3525.15454Z7662007 818'.5209--dc22 2007008691 VisittheTaylor& FrancisWebsiteat http://www.taylorandfrancis.com andtheRoutledgeWebsiteat http://www.routledge.com This bookisdedicatedtoJulie Felty Contents ListofAbbreviations ix Acknowledgments xi ChapterOne Introduction Chapter Two General Reception 13 Chapter Three Avant-Garde Religion 27 ChapterFour TropicofCancer 41 ChapterFive TropicofCapricorn 63 ChapterSix The RosyCrucifixion 93 ChapterSeven Conclusion 127 Notes 129 Vtt viii Contents Bibliography 147 Index 155 List ofAbbreviations AMORC TheAncientand Mystical OrderRosae Crucis FBI Federal BureauofInvestigations KJV KingJamesVersion NIV New InternationalVersion OED Oxford English Dictionary OTO OrdoTempli Orientis UCLA UniversityofCaliforniaat LosAngeles IX Acknowledgments Professor Susan Mizruchi dedicated countless hours to this project. From prolongedconversationstodiligentlyediteddrafts,shewentfar beyondwhat anyone would expect from an advisor. How wonderful it was to find some one who shares so many interests, who could see the logic uniting them. I will be forever grateful for her attention, curiosity, encouragement, enthusi asm, honesty, and trust. As a careful reader and mentor, Professor Peter Hawkins refined my manuscript and my vision. He was always available, volunteering aid when everhesensed itwas needed. Inaddition to pointingouteven moreallusions to theBibleand Dante in HenryMiller'swritings, Peterhelped mearticulate what is truly unique about Miller's religiosity. As Director ofthe Luce Pro gram in Scripture and the Literary Arts at Boston University, he has devel oped an unparalleled program investigating the intersections ofreligion and literature. Iam proudto beamong itsalumni. Other colleagues have been helpful and generous. Professor Matthew Smith guided my project from conception to gestation, pressing me to pur sue my intellectual investigations into excess. Beyond offering page-by-page commentson mymanuscript, ProfessorStephen Prothero hada major influ enceon my intellectual development, encouraging me to researchsidestream religiosity. Professor Charles Lindholm also madevaluable commentson my Millerwork. ProfessorWilliam E; Cain and Max Novick, Research Editorat Routledge, were both extraordinarily helpful in their efforts to ensure that thisstudywas published. Millerscholars past and present havealso provided assistance. MaryV. Dearborn was always charitable with her notes, library, and time. Through chats and correspondence, Bertrand Mathieu and Karl Orend gave not only insight but courage. Discussions with the following also helped improve the study, pointing me in profitabledirections: Sean Dempsey, ProfessorAbigail XI