Magick Without Tears

INTRODUCfION 17 Your sub-questions a, b, and c are really answered by the above. All the terms you use are very indefinite . I hope it will not take too long to get you out of the way of thinking in these terms. For instance , the word "initiation" includes the whole process, and how to distinguish between it and enlightenment I cannot tell you . "Probation," moreover , if it means "Proving," continues throughout the entire process. Nothing is worse for the student than to indulge in these mild speculations about ambiguous terms. 5. You can, if you like, try to work out a progress of Osiris through Amennti on the Tree of Life, but I doubt whether you will get any satisfactory result. It seems to me that you should confine yourself very closely to the actual work in front of you. At the present moment, of course, this includes a great deal of general study ; but my point is that the terms employed in that study should always be capable of precise definition. I am not sure whether you have my Little Essays Toward Truth. The first essay in the book entitled "Man" gives a full account of the five principles which go to make up Man according to the Qabalistic system. I have tried to define these terms as accurately as possible, and I think you will find them, in any case, clearer than those to which you have become accustomed with the Eastern systems. In India, by the way, no attempt is ever made to use these vague terms. They always have a very clear idea of what is meant by words like "Buddhi," "Manas," and the like. Attempts at translation are very unsatisfactory . I find that even with such a simple matter as the "Eight Limbs of Yoga," as you will see when you come to read my Eight Lectures. I am very pleased with your illustrations; that is excellent practice for you . Presently you have to make talismans, and a Lamen for yourself, and even to devise a seal to serve as what you might call a magical coat-of-arms, and all this sort of thing is very helpful. It occurs to me that so far we have done nothing about the astral plane and this path of Tau of which you speak. Have