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. 
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