Magick in Theory and Practice (Section 1)

for magick can lolerate any unbalanced object for a moment. His instinct instantly revolts. 1 For this reason the weapons, altar, circle, and magus are ail carefully proportioned one with another. It will not do to hâve a cup like a thimble and a wand like a weaver’s beam. 1 2 3 Again, the arrangement of the weapons on the altar must be such that they look balanced. Nor should the magician hâve any unbalanced ornament. If he hâve the wand in his right hand, let him hâve the Ring " on his left, or let him take the Ankh, or the Bell, or the Cup. And however little he move to the right, let him balance it by an équivalent movement to the left; or if forwards, backwards; and let him correct each idea by implying the contradictory contained therein. If he invoke Severity, let him recount that Severity is the instrument of Mercy; 4 if Stability, let him show the basis of that Stability to be constant change, just as the stability of a molécule is secured by the momentum of the swift atoms contained in it. 5 In this way let every idea go forth as a triangle on the base of two opposites, making an apex transcending their contradiction in a higher harmony. It is not safe to use any thought in Magick, unless that thought bas been thus equilibrated and destroyed. Thus again with the instruments themselves; the Wand must be ready to change into a Serpent, the Pantacle into the whirling Svastika or Disk of Jove, as if to fulfil the functions of the Sword. 1. This is becausc the essence of his being a Magician is his intuitive appréhension of the fundamental principles of the Universe. His instinct is a subconscious assertion of the structural identity of the Macrocosm and the Microcosm. Equilibrium is the condition of manifested existence. 2. See Bagh-i-Muattar, V, par. 2. 3. The Ring has not been described in Part II of this book, for reasons which may be or may not be apparent to the reader. It is the Symbol of Nuit, the totality of the possible ways in which he may repo¬ sent himself and fulfil himself. 4. For example, as when Firmness with one’s self or another is the truest kindness; or when amputation saves life. 5. See Liber 418, nth Aethyr. 61