Liber Aleph

THE BOOK OF WISDOM OR FOLLY 79 Ga De Manu quæ Magum Sustinet (Of the Hand which upholds the Magus) OW it may be well that such Periods of Recupera- tion are necessary to such souls as mine; and so no Ill. But I fell from my Will, and sought other Ends in Life; and so the Hand came upon me, and tore away that which I desired, as thou knowest; also it is written in The Temple of Solomon the King. Yet consider also these two Years as a necessary Preparation for that greatest of all Events which befell me in El-Kahira, in the Land of Khem, the Choice of me as the Word of the Æon. Now then for a while I worked with my Will, though not wholly; and again the Hand reached forth and smote me. This, albeit my Slackness was but as a Boy playing Truant, not a revolt against my Self. Wherefore, despite all, I made much Progress in short Time. n