Magick Without Tears

61 Power and Authority Cara Soror, Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law. Thanks very much for your last letter. I expected no less. As soon as anybody gets into a position of authority, even on a very small scale, their troubles begin on a very large one. Imagine, if you can what I have been through in the last quarter of a century or more. My subordinates are always asking me for advancement in the Order ; they think that if they were only members of the 266th degree everything in the garden would be lovely. They think that if they only possessed the secrets of the 148th degree they would be able to perform all those miracles which at present escape them. These poor fish! They do not understand tl:1e difference between Power and Authority . They do not understand that there are two kinds of degrees, altogether different. For instance, in the theory of the Church of Rome a bishop is a person on whom has been conferred the magical power to ordain priests. He may choose a totally unworthy person for such ordination , it makes no difference ; and the priest, however unworthy he may be, has only to go through the correct formulae which perform the miracle of the Mass, for that miracle to be performed. This is because in the Church we are dealing with a religious as opposed to a magical or scientific qualification. If the Royal Society 374