119
When speaking of the Cup, it was shown
how every fact must be made
significant,
how every stone
must
have its proper
place
in the
mosaic.
Woe
were
it were
one
stone
misplaced!
But
that
mosaic
cannot
be
wrought
at all, well or ill, unless every stone be there.
These
stones are the simple impressions
or experiences
; not
one may be foregone.
Do not refuse anything
merely because you know
that it is the cup of
poison
offered
by your enemy; drink
it with
confidence;
it is he that
will
fall dead!
How can I give Cambodian art its proper
place in art, if I have never
heard of Cambodia? How
can the
Geologist
estimate
the
age of what
lies beneath
the
chalk
unless he have a piece of knowledge
totally
un-
connected
with
geology,
the
life-history
of the
animals
of whom
that
chalk
is the remains?
This
then
is
a very
great
difficulty
for
the
Magician.
He
cannot
possibly
have all experience,
and though
he may console
himself philo-
sophically
with
the reflection
that the Universe
is conterminous
with
such experience
as
he has,
he will
find
it grow
at such
a
pace during
the'early
years of his life
that he may almost
be
tempted
to believe
in
the
possibility
of experiences
beyond
his
own,
and
from
a
practical
standpoint
he will
seem
to
be
confronted
with
so
many
avenues
of
knowledge
that he will be bewildered
which
to choose.