Magick in Theory and Practice (Section 1)

our compréhension of ourselves as we are. Each accession of knowledge must indicate with unmistakable accuracy the solution of some enigma which is propounded by the Sphynx of our own unknown birth-city, Thebes. The complicated situation in which we find ourselves is composed of éléments \ and no element of it came out of nothing. Newton’s First Law applies to every plane of thought. The theory of évolution is omniform. There is a reason for one’s prédisposition to goût, or the shape of one’s ear, in the past. The symbolism may change ; the facts do not. In one form or another, everything that exists is derived from some previous manifestation. Hâve it, if you will, fhat the memories of other incarnations are dreamsj but dreams are determined by reality just as much as the events of the day. The truth is to be apprehended by the correct translation of the symbolic language. The last section of the Oath of the Master of the Temple is: “I swear to interpret every phenomenon as a particular dealing of God with my soûl.” The Magical Memory is (in the last analysis) one manner, and, as expérience testifies, one of the most important manners, of performing this vow. 59