Magick in Theory and Practice (Section 4)

it is merely normal. It is difficult to describe the nature of the trick, but it will be quite obvious to anyone who has done practices (a) and (b) for a day or two. They become quite easy, and he will think that he is making progress, an illusion which close analysis will dispel. 13. Having begun to train his brain in this manner and obtained some little success, let the Exempt Adept, seated in his Asana, think first of his présent attitude, next of the act of being seated, next of his entering the room, next of his robing, etc. exactly as it happened. And let him most strenuously endeavour to think each act as happening backwards. It is not enough to think, “I am seated here, and before that I was standing, and before that I entered the room”, etc. That sériés is the trick detected in the preliminary practices. The sériés must not run “ghi-def-abc” but “ihgfedcba”: not “horse a is this” but aesroh a si siht”. To obtain this thoroughly well, practice (c) is very useful. The brain will be found to struggle constantly to right itself, soon accustoming itself to accept “esroh” as merely another glyph for “horse”. This tendency must be constantly combated. 14. In the early stages of this practice, the endeavour should be to meticulous minuteness of detail in remembering actions 3 for the brain’s habit of thinking forward will at first be insuperable. Thinking of large and complex actions, then, will give a sériés which we may symbolically Write “opqrstu-hijklmn-abcdefg”. If these be split into detail, we shall hâve “stu-pqr-o-mn-kl-hij-fg- cde-ab” which is much nearer to the idéal “utsrqponmlkjihgfedcba”. 15. Capacities differ widely, but the Exempt Adept need hâve no reason to be discouraged if after a month’s continuous labour he find that now and again for a few seconds his brain really Works backwards. 16. The Exempt Adept should concentrate his efforts upon obtaining a perfect picture of five minutes backwards rather than upon extending the time covered by his méditation. For this preliminary training of the brain is the Pons Asinorum of the whole process. 17. This five minutes5 exercise being satisfactory, the Exempt Adept may extend the same at his discrétion to cover an hour, a — 418 —