Magick Without Tears

392 MAGICK WITHOUT TEARS is nearly always a mistake to try to do things entirely off one's own bat . It is much simpler to look for an existing force, in good working order , that is doing the sort of stuff that you need, and take from it, or control in it, just that bit of it that you happen to require . You can, theoretically , walk from Cadiz to Vladivostock; but unless there be some special reason, it will save time and waste of energy to make use of a fraction of the machine-power that happens to be moving in that direction . This is particularly true of moral and political reform. Hitler would have got exactly nowhere if he had been content to announce his evangel; he became master of Germany, and, for a time, of nearly all Europe, by playing upon existing instruments of human passion; th.e revenge-lust of Central Europe , the panic of the Blimps and Junkers , the discontent of the property-lacking classes, the pride and ambition of the Prussian military clique, and so on. When he had used them to the full, he callously flung them to the wolves. But make no mistake! The Magical Power behind all his actions lay in himself. He had succeeded in making himself a prophet, like Mohammed ; even a symbol, like the Cross of the Crusades. His magical technique was indescribably admirable ; he adopted the Swastika, the Hammer of Thor, the distinctive dress, the slogan, the gestures, the greeting; he even imposed a Sacred Book upon the people. If that book had only been more mystic and incomprehensible , instead of reasonable , diffuse and intolerably dull, he might have done better. As it was, he came within an ace of capturing England, even before he came to power in Germany ; and it was American money that saved the Nazi party at the most critical moment. Cleverest move of all, he gave the world something to hate: the Communist and the Jew. His only trouble was that he couldn't count on his fingers! I perceive that I am turning into the late Samuel Smiles; having given you an example to imitate - but don't forget