THE ELASTIC MIND 
379 
present themselves, be judged as false or true, and rejected or 
accepted accordingly . 
The inelastic mind, on the other hand, is tied by training 
to a rigid sequence, so that it never gets a chance to think for 
itself. 
To develop a mind properly it needs (I) "Lehrjahre" (a 
first-class public school and university education, or the 
equivalent) when it learns all sides of a question, and is left 
free to judge for itself and (2) "Wanderjahre," when it sees 
the world for itself, not by any pre-arranged course (Cooks', 
Lunns', University Extension, Baedeker) but built up on the 
results of the Lehrjahre, foot or horseback, and avoid beaten 
tracks. 
It is the Rosicrucian injunction to "wear the costume of 
the country in which you are travelling" ; this is only another 
way of saying "When in Rome, do as the Romans do." The 
object of this is not merely to avoid interference or 
annoyance, but to teach the mind to think down to the roots 
of the local customs. You learn also the great lesson of 
Thelema, that nothing is right or wrong in itself; as we say 
"Circumstances alter cases." One trains oneself to adapt one's 
life to the impinging facts: to "cut one's coat according to 
one's cloth." It leads one to the understanding of that great 
Principle of Compromise which has kept England's head 
above water through the tempests of a chiliad. 
Remember that the slightest sign of inelasticity means that 
the rubber has already "perished"; and that the test of 
perfection is that one can "snap back" to the original 
condition, with no trace of the stress to which it has been 
subjected. 
Love is the law, love under will. 
Yours fraternally , 
666