Magick in Theory and Practice (Section 2)

any object consecrate it without further ado. One knows what miracles can be clone with one’s favourite mashie! One has used the mashie again and again, one’s love for it growing in proportion to one’s success with it, and that success again made more certain and complété by the effect of this “love under will”, which one bestows upon it by using it. It is, of course, very important to keep such an object away from the contact of the profane. It is instinctive not to let another person use one’s fishing rod or one’s gun. It is not that they could do any harm in a material sense. It is the feeling that one’s use of these things has consecrated them to one’s self. Of course, the outstanding example of ail such talismans is the wife. A wife may be defined as an object specially prepared for taking the stamp of one’s Creative will. This is an example of a very complicated magical operation, extending over centuries. But, theoretically, it is just an ordinary case of talismanic magick. It is for this reason that so much trouble has been taken to prevent a wife having contact with the profane; or, at least, to try to prevent her. Readers of the Bible will remember that Absalom publicly adopted David’s wives and concubines on the roof of the palace, in order to signify that he had succeeded in breaking his father’s magical power. Now, there are a great many talismans in this world which are being left lying about in a most reprehensibly careless manner. Such are the objects of popular adoration, as ikons and idols. But, it is actually true that a great deal of real magical Force is locked up in such things; consequently, by destroying these sacred symbols, you can overcome magically the people who adore them. It is not at ail irrational to fight for one’s flag, provided that the flag is an object which really means something to somebody. Similarly, with the most widely spread and most devotedly worshipped talisman of ail, money, you can evidently break the magical will of a worshipper of money by taking his money away from him, or by destroying its value in some way or another. But, in the case of money, general expérience tells us that there is very little of it lying about loose. In this case, above ali, 137 “