the purse of Fortunatus. No matter in what extremity you may 
seem to be, at the last moment your difficulties will be solved. 
For there is no power either of the firmament or of the 
etlier, or of the eartli or under the earth, on dry land or in 
the water, of whirling air or of rushing fire, or any spell or 
scourge of God which is not obedient to the necessity of the 
Magician! That which he has, he has not; but that which he is, 
he is; and that which he will be, he will be. And neither God 
nor Man, nor ail the malice of Choronzon, can either check him, 
or cause him to waver for one instant upon the Path. This 
command and this promise hâve been given by ail the Magi 
without exception. And where this command has been obeyed, 
this promise has been most certainly fulfilled. 
III 
In ail actions the same formulae are applicable. To invoke a 
god, i.e. to raise yourself to that godhead, the process is 
threefold, PURIFICATION, CONSECRATION and INI¬ 
TIATION. 
Therefore every magical weapon, and even the furniture of 
the Temple, must be passed through this threefold regimen. The 
details only vary on inessential points. E.g. to préparé the 
magician, he purifies himself by maintaining his chastity1 and 
abstaining from any défilement. But to do the same with, let us 
say, the Cup, we assure ourselves that the métal has never been 
employed for any other purpose — we smelt virgin ore, and we 
take ail possible pains in refining the métal — it must be chemically 
pure. 
To sum up this whole matter in a phrase, every article employed 
is treated as if it were a candidate for initiation; but in those parts 
of the ritual in which the candidate is blindfolded, we wrap the 
weapon in a black cloth 2. The oath which he takes is replaced by 
a “charge” in similar terms. The details of the préparation of 
each weapon should be thought out carefully by the magician. 
1. See The Book of the Law and the Commentaries thereon for the 
true définition of this virtue. 
2. This refers to the “formula of the Néophyte”. There are alter¬ 
natives. 
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