in two places at once,1 for example, though even the possibilité 
of so simple a feat (in the case of spirits) seems to be denied by 
certain passages in extant conjurations which tell the spint that if 
he happens to be in chains in a particular place in Hell, or if some 
other magician îs conjuring him so that he cannot comc, then let 
him send a spirit of simîlar nature, or otherwisé avoid the dif- 
ficulty. But of course so vulgar a conception would not occur to 
the student of the Qabalah. It is just possible that the magi wrote 
their conjurations on this crude hypothesis in order to avoid the 
clouding of the mind by doubt and metaphysical spéculation. 
He who became the Master Therion was once confronted by 
this very difficulty. Being determined to instruct mankind, He 
sought a simple statement of his object. His will was sufficiently 
informed by common sense to décidé him to teach man T he Nexi 
Step, the thing which was immediately above him. He might 
hâve called this “God”, or “The Higher Self”, or “The 
Augoeides”, or “Adi-Buddha”, or 61 other things —but He had 
discovered that these w'ere ali one, yet that each one represented 
some theory of the Universe which would ultimately be shattered 
by criticism — for He had already passed through the realm of 
Reason, and knew that every statement contained an absurdity. 
He therefore said: “Let me déclaré this Work under this title: 
'The obtaining of the Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy 
Guardian AngeP ”, because the theory implied in these words is 
so patently absurd that only simpletons would waste much time in 
analysing it. It would be accepted as a convention, and no one would 
incur the grave danger of building a philosophical system upon it. 
With this understanding, we may rehabilitate the Hebrew 
System of invocations. The mind is the great enemy; so, by 
invoking enthusiastically a person whom we know not to 
exist, we are rebuking that mind. Yet we should not refrain 
altogether from philosophising in the light of the Holy Qabalah. 
We should accept the Magical Hierarchy as a more or less con- 
venient classification of the facts of the Universe as they are 
i. He could do this provided that he can travel with à speed exceeding 
that of Light, as he does. See A. S. Eddington aSpace, Time, and Gra¬ 
vitation”. Also : what means “at once”? 
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