Magick Without Tears

294 MAGICK WITHOUT TEARS these are the two great enemies of the Ethic of Thelema. They are the traditional obstacles to success in Yoga as well as in Magick. Now in practice, in everyday life, this unselfishness is always cropping up. Not only do you insult your brother King by your "noble self-sacrifice," but you are almost bound to interfere with his True Will. "Charity" always means that the lofty soul who bestows it is really, deep down, trying to enslave the recipient of his beastly bounty! In practice, I begin afresh, it is almost entirely a matter of the point of view. "That poor chap looks as if a square meal wouldn't hurt him"; and you chuck him a half-crown. You offend his pride, you pauperize him, you make a perfect cad of yourself, and you go off with a glow of having done your good deed for the day. It's all wrong. In such a case, you should make it the request for a favour. Say you're "dying for someone to talk to, and would he care to join you in a spot of lunch" at the Ritz, or wherever you feel that he will be the happiest. When you can do this sort of thing as it should be done, without embarrassment , false shame, with your whole heart in your words-do it simply, to sum up-you will find yourself way up on the road to that royal republic which is the ideal of human society . Love is the law, love under will. Yours fraternally, 666 P.S. Let me insist that "pity" is nearly always an impostor. It is the psychic consolation for fear, the "pitiful man" really is a pitiful man! He has transferred his own fear of what may happen to himself to another; for he is such a coward that he dare not face his fear, even in imagination! P.P.S. The day after I had written the above postscript I came upon a copy of Graham Greene's The Ministry of Fear-after a long search. He points out that pity is a mature emotion ; adolescents do not feel it. Exactly; one step further, and he