Magick in Theory and Practice (Section 2)

preserving its position on its own plane, and evoking the necessary counterpoise to its own déviation from the norm of nothingness. \\ e may recapitulate the above reflections in a practical form. We will suppose that one wishes to divine by geomancy whether or no one should marry, it being assumed that one’s emotional impulses suggest so rash a course. The man takes his wand and his sand; he traces the question, makes the appropriate pentagram, and the sigil of the spirit. Before tracing the dashes which are to détermine the four “Mothers”, he must strictly examine himself. He must banish from his mind every thought which can possibly act as an attachment to his proposed partner. He must banish ail thoughts which concern himself, those of appré¬ hension no less than those of ardour. He must carry his introspec¬ tion as far as possible. He must observe with ail the subtletv at his command whether it pains him to abandon any of these thoughts. So long as his mind is stirred, however slightly, by one single aspect of the subject, he is not fit to begin to form the figure. He must sink his persouality in that of the intel¬ ligence hearing the question propounded by a sîrarager to whom he is indifferent, but whom it is his business to serve faithfully. He must now run over the whole affair in his mind, making sure of his utter aloofness therefrom. He must also make sure that his muscles are perfectly free to respond to the touch of the Will of that intelligence. (It is of course understood that he has not become so familiar with geomancy by dint of practice as to be able to calculate subconsciously what figures he will form; form; for this would vitiate the experiment entirely. It is, in fact, one of the objections to geomancy that sooner or later one does become aware at the time of tracing them whether the dots are going to be even or odd. This needs a spécial training to correct). Physio-psychological theory will probably maintain that the “automatic” action of the hand is controlled by the brain no less than in the case of conscious volition; but this is an additional argument for identiiying the brain with the intelligence invoked. Having thus identified himself as closely as possible with that intelligence, and concentrated on the question as if the “prophe- sying spirit” were giving its whole attention thereto, he must — 165 —