A MASTER OF THE TEMPLE
had now arrived at a stage when he might undertake an
Operation for the Invocation of Adonai,’ which would re-
quire Six weeks’ work, the last Twelve days of which must
be in complete Retirement. At first he could see no possible
way to undertake this, owing to, (1) Family Affairs, (2)
Office work, (3) Lack of money. He determined however
to go ahead in spite of apparent obstacles, and duly made a
start at Midnight, August 31. From that time until Sep-
tember 18th he was occupied by the Preparatory work, and
from Midnight September 18th to Midnight September 30th
by the Purity Section. October 1st to October 12th Proper
Retirement, and on October 12th Invocation of Holy Guar-
dian Angel. All this meant a great deal of work and trouble,
and much new experience gained, but was on the whole a
failure, though a Step on the Path. During this retirement
he cut a Wand, as a Symbol not of his will but of the Will of
Adonai in him. It would be hardly right to say that this
Magical Retirement produced no results, though it may not
have produced the One Desired Result. By the time a man
has made 671 entries in his Magical Record (as Frater
V.1.O. did during those six weeks) and each of those entries
has a direct bearing on the matter in hand, he is bound to
have produced a state of mind somewhat different from nor-
mal consciousness. (It is interesting to note that 671, by a
curious coincidence, is the numeration of Adonai, spelt in
full, the Central idea of the Invocation.)
1No man has the right to make the slightest suggestion to another as to when
he should or should not undertake this critical and central Operation. To in-
terfere in any way between a man and his Holy Guardian Angel is the most
intolerable presumption. O.M.
153