Magick in Theory and Practice (Section 1)

hands of savages. A poet, however sublime, must impose himself upon his génération if he is to enjoy (and even to understand) himself, as theoretically should be the case.) (23) Magick is the Science of understanding oneself and one’s conditions. It is the Art of applying that under¬ standing in action. (Illustration: A golf club is intended to move a spécial bail in a spécial way in spécial circumstances. A Niblick should rarely be used on the tee, or a Brassie under the bank of a bunker. But also, the use of any club demands skill and expérience.) (24) Every man has an indefeasible right to be what he is. (Illustration: To insist that any one else shall comply with one’s own standards is to outrage, not only him, but oneself, since both parties are equally born of necessity.) (25) Every man must do Magick each time that he acts or even thinks, since a thought is an internai act whose influence ultimately affects action, though it may not do so at the time. (Illustration: The least gesture causes a change in a man’s own body and in the air around him; it disturbs the balance of the entire Universe, and its effects continue eternally throughout ail space. Every thought, however swiftly suppressed, has its effect on the mind. It stands as one of the causes of every subséquent thought, and tends to influence every subséquent action. A golfer may lose a few yards on his drive, a few more with his second and third, he may lie on the green six bare inches too far from the hole1, but the net resuit of these trifling mishaps is the différence of a whole stroke, and so probably between halving and losing the hole.) (26) Every man has a right, the right of self-préserva¬ tion, to fulfil himself to the utmost. 1 (Illustration: A function imperfectly performed injures, not I. Men of “criminal nature” are simply at issue with their true Wills. The murderer has the Will-to-Live; and his will to murder is a false wilî at variance with his true Will, since he risks death at the hands of Society by obeying his criminal impulse. — XXIV